LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



COMPOSITION, 



Grammar, and Rhetoric 



COMBIKED. 



9? / 



By W. W. GIST, A. M. 



16 1886 /? 

VlP^ was 



CHICAGO: 
GEO. SHERWOOD & CO., Publishers. 






Copyright, 1886, 

BY 

W. W. GIST. 



PRESS OF 

J. L. REGAN & CO. 

CHICAGO. 



-4 PREFACE, ^ 




N the preparation of these lessons the author has 
aimed to avoid the extreme of mere technical 
grammar on the one side, and the opposite ex- 
treme of attempting to teach composition work 
without unfolding the well-established laws of our 
language. Believing that a practical knowledge of 
the language can be gained only by using it, he requires 
written work in nearly all the lessons. 

Attention may be called to the following points: 

1. The grammar part has been placed at the end of the 
book for reference, and the pupil is required to learn it 
only as he has occasion to make a practical use of it. The 
references are generally given; the student may have to 
consult the index sometimes. 

2. The use of diacritical marks and the practical work 
in orthoepy stimulate the pupil to make constant use of 
the dictionary. 

3. The principles of punctuation are taught from the 
beginning in sentence work. 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

4. The written exercises give a thorough drill in forming 
the plurals of nouns, in writing the singular and plural of 
verbs, in forming the possessive case of nouns, in spell- 
ing the most common forms of derivative words, and 
in many other practical points of written and spoken 
language. 

5. The "Memory Gems" bring before the pupil some of 
the finest specimens in our language, and afford an abun- 
dance of material for critical study. 

6. The illustrative examples from so large a number of 
our standard writers form an important feature. 

7. The discussion of letter-writing and other kinds of 
composition work is comprehensive. 

8. Prominence is given to the discussion of the parti- 
ciple partly because the subject is somewhat difficult and 
partly because the ability to use the participle appropri- 
ately gives one increased power as an elegant writer. 

Although the author realizes that he has come far short 
of his ideal in the preparation of these lessons, he sends 
the book forth with the hope that it may stimulate many 
to a careful and critical study of our mother tongue. 

Thanks are hereby tendered to Messrs. Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., and to others who have kindly given per- 
mission to insert the "Memory Gems" contained in this 
book. 

Coe College, Cedar Eapids, Iowa, May, 1886. 



.&. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



TJ^ 



"7fi 



Page. 
Introduction, ------- 7-11 

Written Exercises with diacritical marks, - 11-15 

The Noun, 15-17 

Memory Gem, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, and Pronoun, - 18-21 
Sentence, Subject, Predicate, Punctuation, - - -21, 22 
Nominative Case, Diacritical Marks, Absolute Case, Punctua- 
tion, - 22-27 

Composition Work, Memory Gem, Objective Case, Possessive 

Case, 27-32 

Punctuation, Abbreviations, Letter- Writing, - - 33-37 

Apposition, Memory Gem, Abbreviations, - 37-41 

Verb, Number, Memory Gem, - 42-49 

Copulative Verb, Parsing, Nominative Case, Dictation Exer- 
cises, Subordinate Elements, - 49-53 
Memory Gem, Number, Subordinate Elements, Principles of 

Spelling, Infinitive, ----- 54-59 

Memory Gem, Dictation Exercises, Irregular Verbs, - - 60-65 

Compound Personal Pronoun, Memory Gem, Interrogative 

Pronoun, 65-69 

Complex Sentences, — Adverbial Clauses, Principles of Spell- 
ing, Diacritical Marks, Memory Gems, - - - 70-76 
Complex Sentences, — Relative Clauses, Number, Diacritical 

Marks, Dictation Exercises, Memory Gems, - - 77-88 

Complex Sentences, — Substantive Clauses, Direct and Indi- 
rect Quotations, Implied Questions, Memory Gems, - 88-98 
Participles, Complex Sentences, Dictation Exercises, Com- 
pound Sentences, Memory Gems, - - - - 98-109 
Diacritical Marks, Number, Derivatives, Memory Gem, - 109-114 
Discussion of the Sentence, - -114-118 

(v) 



VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Principles of Composition, — Clearness, Purity, Strength, Ele- 
gance, Examples, ----- -119-124 

Selecting a Subject, Eeproduction, Invention, Making a Plan, 

Memory Gem, ------ 124-128 

Figures of Speech,— Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, Apostro- 
phe, Climax,— Examples, Memory Gems, - - - 129-138 

GRAMMAR. 

The Noun,— Person, Gender, Number, Case, - - - 139-152 

The Pronoun, — Personal, Relative, Interrogative, - - . 152 160 

The Verb— Voice, Mode, Tense, PriDcipal Parts, Regular and 
Irregular, Synopsis, Conjugation, Progressive Form, Em- 
phatic Form, Ancient Forms, Copulative, Participle, List 
of Irregular Verbs, ----- 160-185 

Adjective, Adverb, 185-188 

Preposition, Conjunction, Ioterjection, - 189-191 

Syntax — Subject, Predicate, Subordinate Elements, Inde- 
pendent Elements, Synthesis, Analysis, - - 191-194 
Sentences— Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, Exclama- 
tory; Simple, Complex, Compound, - - - 194-196 
Subordinate Clauses — Adverbial, Relative, Substantive, - 196-201 
Principles of Punctuation — Period, Comma, Semicolon, Colon, 
Interrogation Point, Exclamation Point, Apostrophe, Quo- 
tation Marks, Hyphen, etc., - 202-211 
Capital Letters, Orthography, Diacritical Marks, - - 212-218 
Models for Diagraming and Parsing, - 218-223 

Subjects for Essays, 223-226 

Memory Gems, 226-232 



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-INTRODUCTION,^ 

WHAT SHOULD A TEACHER OF THE ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE AIM TO ACCOMPLISH? 

Thousands are attempting to teach "grammar" who have 
no conception of what they should try to do for their pupils. 
In many cases the time is spent almost entirely in analyz- 
ing and parsing without any practical drill in the use 
of the language. Pupils find such work irksome, they see 
no advantage in it, and as a result the whole subject 
becomes distasteful. Marsh has well stated the one com- 
mon object that should be kept in mind: 

"Among the many ends which we may propose to our- 
selves in the study of language, there is but one which is 
common and necessary to every man. I mean such a 
facility in comprehending and such skill in using his 
mother tongue, that he can play w r ell his part in the 
never-ceasing dialogue which, whether between the living 
and the living, or the living and the dead, whether breathed 
from the lips or figured with the pen, takes up so large a 
part of the life of every one of us." 

As a general statement this covers the ground exactly. 
Let us notice a few particulars: 

(7) 



8 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

1. One should be able to express his thoughts clearly 
and accurately in conversation. A gross violation of the 
most common laws of our language is inexcusable in one 
who has opportunities for study. 

2. One should be able to express his thoughts clearly 
and accurately on paper with due attention to spelling, 
penmanship, punctuation, use of capitals, paragraphing, 
etc. It is the uniform testimony of editors that many 
college graduates are unable to prepare a manuscript that 
can be placed without correction in the hands of a com- 
positor. Any one who has an extensive correspondence is 
amazed to find so many inaccuracies in the letters received 
from teachers, ministers, lawyers, and others recognized 
as leaders of society. 

3. A student of our language should be able to grasp 
without difficulty the meaning of any selection of plain 
English. To do this he must have a somewhat extensive 
vocabulary — an accurate knowledge of the meaning of 
words. 

4. He should also be able to read any selection of plain 
English so that he can convey its meaning to others in 
an agreeable and attractive manner. This requires accu- 
rate pronunciation, distinct enunciation, and proper expres- 
sion. Many so-called scholars habitually mispronounce 
the most common words and do not regard it as a serious 
fault at all. Accuracy in pronunciation is a mark of a 
scholar. A knowledge of the common diacritical marks 
is absolutely necessary for the proper study of orthoepy. 

5. A student should have some true appreciation of the 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

great English masterpieces for the sake of their influ- 
ence upon his own style. 

These are some of the things that every teacher should 
aim to accomplish. 

INFLUENCES DETERMINING THE USE OF 
LANGUAGE. 

1. One's home-life wields a greater influence than any 
other external power in determining the use of language. 
If a child hears correct language continually, he will 
naturally use correct language himself. If he hears 
ungrammatical expressions and mispronunciations, his own 
language will be defective, and years of the most careful 
and critical study may not be sufficient to correct it. 

2. In the second place, the intellectual atmosphere that 
one breathes in his daily work wields a great influence 
over his language. If an individual moves in cultivated 
society, his language, as a rule, will be correct. If he 
comes in contact with the uneducated continually, the 
fact will generally be manifest in his language. 

3. Constant communion with good books, and the 
memorizing of choice passages, wield a great influence in 
elevating one's language, in enlarging his vocabulary, and 
in quickening all his intellectual powers. 

4. The critical study of standard writers is another 
most, important element in the development of speech. 
An extensive vocabulary is essential to proficiency in a 
language. We probably acquire nine-tenths of our words 
by observing the connection in which they are used. It 



10 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

will not always do, however, to rely upon the connection 
to reveal the meaning of a new word. One is often mis- 
led by relying upon this test. The dictionary should be 
consulted in the case of every word concerning which 
there is any doubt as to the meaning or pronunciation. 

In carrying on the critical study of a masterpiece, a 
student, in addition to his attention to individual words, 
should carefully observe the parts that make up a sen- 
tence, including their position and power, and should care- 
fully note the elements of strength, beauty, elegance, etc. 

5. A careful study of the few fixed principles of the 
language, with practical drill both in speaking and writ- 
ing, is all important. A study of the theory without 
experience in using the principles taught, is of little 
value. 

These suggestions apply to the teacher as well as to the 
pupil. Every successful teacher of English is a diligent 
student of English. 

Note. — All the sentences should be written on paper with 
pen and ink as a preparation for the recitation. At the 
recitation require each pupil to write at least one sentence 
on the blackboard, without the aid of his paper, with due 
attention to spelling, punctuation, penmanship, use of 
capitals, accuracy of words, and neatness of work. Let 
the teacher not be satisfied, if the pupil meets the special 
requirement of the lesson, but produces a sentence faulty 
in any particular. Let each part of every sentence pass 
before the class for criticism. It is assumed that every 
competent teacher of the English language is a critic. 



SENTENCE-BUILDING. 11 

Comparatively few lessons in false syntax have been given. 
The pupils will furnish examples of faulty sentences in 
every lesson. Let the teacher keep in mind the princi- 
ples discussed in Lessons CCIIL, CCV., and CCVL, and 
criticise all work with the greatest care. Pupils should be 
drilled from the very beginning to analyze subjects for 
essays. 

LESSON I. 

Every sentence should begin with a capital letter. 
Every sentence that simply states a fact or expresses a 
command should end with a period. 

Write ten sentences, using one of the following words 
in each: dog, cow, horse, calf, cat, kitten, house, man, 
tree, pen. 

Model. — The cat caught the mice. 



LESSON II. 

An interrogation point should be placed at the end of 
every question. 

Write ten questions, using one of the following words 
in each of the questions: train, barn, wagon, apple, book, 
see, give, write, go, talk. 

Model. — Did you see the train of cars ? 



LESSON III. 



The long sound of a vowel is indicated by a straight 
line above it; as, a in the word fate. 



12 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
long sound of a in it, giving the letter the proper diacriti- 
cal mark. 

Model. — Children like to play. 



LESSON IV. 

Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
long sound of e in it, giving the proper diacritical mark. 
Model. — Create in me a clean heart, O God. 



LESSON V. 



Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
long sound of i in it, giving the proper diacritical mark. 

Model. — The farmer drives a fine team. 



LESSON VI. 

Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
long sound of a in it and a word with the long sound of 
o in it, giving proper diacritical marks. 

Model. — The boy drove the nail into the board. 



LESSON VII. 

Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
long sound of u in it. 

Model. — A mute is a person who can not speak. 



DIACRITICAL MARKS. 13 

Note. — The teacher should impress upon the minds of 
the pupils the fact that the long sound of u is not the 
same as the sound of do. 



LESSON VIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
long sound of i in it and a word with the long sound of y 
in it, giving the proper diacritical marks. 

Model. — The spider could not catch the fly. 



LESSON IX. 



Write ten sentences each containing w)asa vowel. 
Model. — The boy is proud of his new slate. 

Note. — Remember that tc is a consonant at the begin- 
ning of a syllable and a vowel at the end of a syllable. 



LESSON X. 



The short sound of a vowel is indicated by the breve 
placed over it as in the following table: 

a fat. 

e met. 

t pin. 

o not. 

u tub. 

y lynch. 



14 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
short sound of a and also a word with the short sound of 
e, giving the proper diacritical marks. 

Hlodel . — The rat was afraid of the hen. 



LESSON XL 



Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 
short sound of i and a word with the short sound of o. 

Model . — The girl could not find the pin. 



LESSON XII. 



Write ten sentences, each of the first five containing a 
word with the short sound of u, and each of the last five 
containing a word with the short sound of y. 

Model . — The tub is full of water. The lynx is a fero- 
cious animal. 



LESSON XIII. 

Write ten questions, using one of the following words 
in each question : pleasure, please, gape, abdomen, patron, 
patronize, forge, inquiry, brag, cost. 

Model. — Did you make in quir'y about the book ? 

Note. — If the word has more than one syllable, 
indicate the accent as well as the length of the vowel. 



COMPOSITION WORK — NOUN. 15 

LESSON XIV. 

Write a short essay on one of the following subjects: 
Winter Sports, Summer Sports, Skating, Nutting, Christ- 
mas Day, Thanksgiving Day, Fourth of July, Decoration 
Day, A Pleasure Trip, A Picnic, etc. 

Note. — The teacher should keep clearly in mind that a 
pupil can not learn to write except by practice. In most 
cases it requires years of experience before a pupil can 
tell, beyond a doubt, just when one sentence ends and 
another sentence begins. The youngest pupils, therefore, 
should be thoroughly drilled in easy composition work. 
They should be required to write a letter or a paragraph 
on some familiar topic every week. Some of these pro- 
ductions should be copied on the blackboard and criticised 
before the entire class. The critical, stimulating teacher 
will make this exercise attractive as well as profitable. 



LESSON XV. 

. NOUNS. 

A Noun is a name. 

Names of particular persons, places, events, etc., are 
called Proper Nouns. Proper nouns must always 
begin with capitals. 

Write ten sentences each containing a proper noun, 
the name of a person. 

Model. — Washington has been called the father of 
his country. 



16 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON XVI. 

Write ten sentences each containing a proper noiix., 
the name of a place. 

Model. — Nashville is the capital of Tennessee. 



LESSON XVII. 

A name that may be applied to any one of a class of 
objects is called a Common Noun; as, boy, pen, horse, 
etc. 

Write ten sentences each containing a common noun, 
the name of some animal. 

Model.— The cow is one of the most useful of domestic 
animals. 






LESSON XVIII. 

The Italian sound of a is found in the word arm, and 
is indicated by two dots placed over it ; as, arm. 

Write ten sentences each containing some word with the 
Italian sound of a in it ; also a common noun, the name of 
some kind of grain or fruit. 

Model. — Large quantities of wheat are raised on the 
farms of Illinois. 



LESSON XIX. 

The broad sound of a is heard in the word ball and is 
indicated by two dots placed under it ; as , fall. 

Write ten sentences each containing a word with the 



MEMOEY GEM. 17 

*oad sound of a ; also a common noun, the name of some 
;Q£>1 or farm implement 
Model. — He threw the hammer into the tall grass. 



LESSON XX. 

Write ten sentences each containing a common noun, 
the name of some article of furniture; also a word with 
either the long, short, Italian, or broad sound of a. 

Model. — The man sat on the chair. 



LESSON XXL 

MEMORY GEM. 

I REMEMBERc 
1. 

I remember, I remember 
The house where I was born, 
The little window where the sun 
Came peeping in at morn ; 
He never came a wink too soon, 
Nor brought too long a day ; 
But now I often wish the night 
Had borne my breath away ! 

2. 
I remember, I remember 
The roses red and white, 
The violets, and the lily-cups — 



18 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Those flowers made of light! 
The lilacs where the robin built, 
And where my brother set 
The laburnum on his birthday, — 
The tree is living yet ! 

3. 

I remember, I remember 
The fir-trees dark and high ; 
I used to think their slender tops 
Were close against the sky. 
It was a childish ignorance, 
But now 'tis little joy 
To know I'm farther off from Heaven 
Than when I was a boy. 



— Thomas Hood, 



LESSON XXII. 

A word used to qualify the meaning of a noun is called 
an Adjective; as, The tall man went home. In this 
sentence the word tall qualifies or describes the word 
man and is, therefore, an adjective. 

Write ten sentences, using one of the following adjec- 
tives in each: beautiful, clean, good, bad, sick, little, 
round, noble, hard, deep. 

Model. — The flowers in the garden were beau'tiful. 

Note. — Give the proper diacritical marks of the 
adjectives. 






DIACEITICAL MARKS. 19 

LESSON XXIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing an adjective 
expressing color. 

Model* — A black cloud hung over the village. 



LESSON XXIV. 

The letter c has two sounds, soft and hard; the soft 
sound is the same as s, the hard sound is the same as k; 
as c, soft, as in gity; c, hard, as in €all. 

The letter c is soft before e, i, and y with one or two 
exceptions. It is hard before all other letters. 

Write ten sentences each containing an adjective express- 
ing size or shape ; also a word with the soft sound of c. 

Model. — The large gistem was nearly full of water. 



LESSON XXV. 

Write ten sentences each containing an adjective; also 
some word with the hard sound of c. 

Model.— The carpet was of a bright red color 



LESSON XXVI. 

Write ten sentences each containing a noun with soft 
sound of c in it. 

Model. — A good gitizen will obey the laws of his 
country. 



20 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON XXVII. 

A word that expresses action is a Verb; as, The dog 
runs fast. In this sentence the word runs is a verb. 

Write ten sentences each containing one of the follow- 
ing verbs: wrote, ran, walked, fell, drove, loves, obeys, 
will shoot, can fly, chop. 

Model. — The boy wrote a neat letter to his mother. 



LESSON XXYIII. 

A word used to modify the meaning of a verb is called 
an Adverb ; as, The bird flies swiftly. In this sentence 
the word swiftly is an adverb. 

Write ten sentences with the verbs modified by one of 
the following adverbs: slowly, fast, neatly, not, quickly, 
beautifully, truthfully, falsely, disgracefully, badly. 

Model. — A dog can run fast. 



LESSON XXIX. 

A word used instead of a noun is called a Pronoun* 
Some of the most common pronouns are I, he, she, me, 
him, his, my, we, you, their, them, your. 

In the sentence, I saiv the man and spoke to him, it is 
evident that the word I is used instead of the name of 
the one speaking, and that the word him is used instead 
of the word man. 



SUBJECT AND PREDICATE. 21 

Write ten sentences, using in each, one of the above 
pronouns. 

Model.— The student lost his book on the way to the 

schoolroom. 



LESSON XXX. 

Note. — In the preceding lessons the aim has been to 
direct the pupils in sentence-building. No definition of 
a sentence has been given so far. Under the direction 
of an efficient teacher a child can be taught to write sen- 
tences correctly, before he fully comprehends a technical 
definition of a sentence. The pupil who has written the 
preceding exercises under standingly is prepared to study 
the parts of a sentence. 

SIMPLE SENTENCES. 

See definition of a sentence and a simple sentence Art. 
XIX. 

The Subject of a sentence is that of which some- 
thing is asserted. The Predicate is that which asserts 
something of the subject. The subject is a noun or pro- 
noun. The predicate, in most cases, is the simple verb. 

Write ten sentences, using the following nouns as the 
subjects: carpenter, farmer, horse, bird, house, knife, boy, 
rain, river, train. 

Model. — The carpenter built a large house. 



22 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON XXXI. 

Write ten sentences, using one of the following verbs 
as the predicate of each : chopped, flew, saw, found, will 
laugh, can read, has written, had taught, walks, is sitting. 

Model. — The boy chopped the wood. 



LESSON XXXII. 
See Art. XIX., 9. 

Eule of Punctuation. — When three or more words 
are used in the same connection, a comma must be placed 
after each excepting the last. 

Note. — There is a growing tendency to omit the comma 
between the last two nouns. Have the pupils notice the 
usage of standard writers. 

A Compound Subject is formed by the union of 
two or more single subjects; as, John, William, and 
Thomas worked in harmony. 

A Compound Predicate is formed by the union of 
two or more single predicates ; as, The boy works, eats, 
and plays. 

Write ten sentences, each having a compound subject 
composed of three or more nouns. 

Model. — The men, women, and children have all gone 
on the excursion. 



CASE— PRONOUN. 23 

LESSON XXXIII. 

Write ten sentences, each having a compound predi- 
cate composed of three or more verbs. 

Model. — The farmer walked to town, purchased an ax, 
and carried it home. 



LESSON XXXIV. 

CASE. 

A noun or pronoun used as a subject of a sentence, ft 
in the Nominative Case. See Art. X. 

Learn the nominative forms of all the personal 
pronouns. 

Write ten sentences with compound predicates, using 
the following pronouns as the subjects: I, we, you, she, he, 
it, they. 

Model. — I went to the country, visited many of my 
friends, and saw several objects of interest. 



LESSON XXXV. 

The hard sound of g is indicated by a line over it ; the 
soft sound is indicated by a dot over it. 

g, hard, as in gate. 

g, soft, as in gem. 

Note. — When g has the soft sound, it is before the let- 
ters e, i, and y. Do not get the idea that g is always 
soft before e, i, and y. 



24 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Write ten sentences, each containing a noun with the 
hard sound of g in it. Put these nouns in the nominative 
case, and give the words the proper diacritical marks. 

Model.— The gate was torn from its hinges. 



LESSON XXXYI. 

Write ten sentences each containing a verb with the 
hard sound of g in it, and give the word the proper dia- 
critical mark. 

Model. — The man gave the book to the boy. 



LESSON XXXVII. 

Write ten sentences, each containing a noun in the 
nominative case, with the soft sound of g in it, and give 
the word the proper diacritical mark. 

Model. — The general gained a great victory over the 
enemy. 



LESSON XXXVIII. 

Write ten sentences, using the following adjectives and 
giving the proper diacritical marks to the g's : gigantic, 
generous, great, gentle, genuine, gossipy, guilty, gruff, 
genteel, giddy. 

Model. — The hunter killed an animal of gigantic size. 



PUNCTUATION. 25 

LESSON XXXIX. 

Write ten sentences, each containing a word in whicli 
g has the hard sound before e, i, or y. 

Model. — The girl would not give the book to the boy. 



LESSON XL. 



A noun used by way of address is in the Absolute 
Case. See Art. VIII. 

Eule of Punctuation. — A noun in the absolute case 
by address, must be set off from the rest of the sentence 
by a comma or commas. 

John shut the door. 
John, shut the door. 

Notice the difference of meaning in the above senten- 
ces. In the first sentence, the simple statement is made 
that John did shut the door. In the second sentence, 
John is addressed, and he is commanded to shut the door. 

The following exercises should be read by the teacher 
and copied on the blackboard by the pupils. See that 
th^ sentences are properly punctuated. It will not be 
sufficient for the pupils to state orally where the punctu- 
ation marks should be. They should be required to place 
the punctuation marks in the proper places until they 
form the habit of doing it. 

1. Mother may I go to visit my aunt to-day 

2. What did you ask me to do father 



26 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

3. I write unto you little children because your sins are 
forgiven 

4. Marvel not my brethren if the world hate you 

5. Martha Martha thou art careful and troubled about 
many things 

6. I will bring you the book sir as soon as I can find it 

7. I pray thee Lord my soul to keep 

8. Look mother the sky is blue 

9. Thanks thanks to thee my worthy friend for the 
lesson thou hast taught 

10. Blessings on thee little man 
Barefoot boy with cheeks of tan 

11. You cannot my lords you can not conquer America 

12. I come not friends to steal away your hearts 



LESSON XLL 

QUOTATION MARKS. 

Quotation Marks must be used when the exact 
words of another are quoted. 

Example. — " So, little boy," said he, "you would like 
to change places with me, would you ? " 

Notice that the whole sentence is quoted excepting the 
words said he. 

Rule of Punctuation. — Words that are used in a 
sentence out of their natural order, are separated from the 
rest of the sentence by commas; as the words said he, in 
the above sentence. 



PUNCTUATION COMPOSITION WOEK. 27 

Copy the following sentences on the blackboard, and 
punctuate properly: 

1. Oh said the oak I do not think I am of any use 

2. Well said John if you please sir I would like to see 
the cattle again 

3. I do not want this money said the landlord 

4. Alas gentleman cried Kip I am a poor quiet man 

5. Sisters and brothers little maid 

How many may you be 
How many Seven in all she said 
And wondering looked at me 

6. My listening angel heard the prayer 

And calmly smiling said 
If I but touch thy silvered hair 
Thy hasty wish hath sped 

Note. — Have the pupils distinguish clearly the parts 
that are quoted. 



LESSON XLII. 

Write a short essay that shall include the following 
words, and such others as the pupils may see fit to use: 
picnic, baskets, dinners, day, pleasant, cars, river, woods, 
rain, wet, lost, clothes, sport, swing, spoiled, hurt, trees, 
pies, cakes, hammock. 

Note. — This lesson, and others similar to it, may 
require the attention of the class for several days. Some 
of the essays should be copied on the blackboard and 
criticised in detail. Some of the sentences will be very 
faulty. In many cases the pupils will fail to understand 



28 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

when one sentence ends and the following sentence be- 
gins. Let these mistakes be pointed out and the work 
re-copied. 

In connection with the essay work, require frequent 
analyses of subjects. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE. 

A Picnic. 

( 1. Place. 

1. Preparations. < 2. Company. 

( 3. Details. 

2. The start.— delays, etc. 

mi { 1. Incidents. 

3. The lourney. < a 

J J I L ocenes. 

4. Description of grounds. 

5. How the time was spent. 

6. Incidents and accidents. 

7. The return. 

8. Reflections. 



LESSON XLIII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

BALLAD OF THE TEMPEST. 
1. 

We were crowded in the cabin, 
Not a soul would dare to sleep, 

It was midnight on the waters 
And a storm was on the deep. 



MEMORY GEM. 29 

2. 
'Tis a fearful thing in winter 

To be shattered by the blast, 
And to hear the rattling trumpet 

Thunder: " Cut away the mast!" 

3. 

So we shuddered there in silence, — 
For the stoutest held his breath, 

While the hungry sea was roaring, 
And the breakers talked with Death. 
4. 

As thus we sat in darkness, 
Each one busy in his prayers, 
"We are lost!" the captain shouted 
As he staggered down the stairs. 
5. 

But his little daughter whispered, 
As she took his icy hand: 
"Isn't God upon the ocean 

Just the same as on the land ?" 

6. 

Then we kissed the little maiden, 

And we spoke in better cheer, 
And we anchored safe in harbor 

When the morn was shining clear. 

— -James T. Fields. 

Note. — Let it be considered of the first importance that 
the pupils appreciate the beauty of this little poem. 



30 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



LESSON XLIV. 

Require the pupils to write out in their own language 
the thought of the poem in Lesson XLIII. 

Note. — This kind of an exercise is very profitable for 
beginners. 



LESSON XLV. 

Questions on the poem in Lesson XLIII. 

1. Why do you consider the poem beautiful ? 

2. Point out the quotations in it. 

3. Point out two pronouns in the first stanza. 

4. Point out six nouns in the first stanza. 

5. Point out five nouns in the second stanza. 

6. Point out four verbs in the third stanza. 

7. Explain the use of the apostrophe in the second and 
the fifth stanzas. See Art. XXXI. 

8. Point out four adjectives in the sixth stanza. 



LESSON XLVI. 



OBJECTIVE CASE, 



Some verbs require objects to complete their meaning. 
These verbs are called Transitive and the noun or pro- 
noun following is in the Objective Case. 

Example. — The man painted the house. 



PREPOSITION. 31 

In this sentence the verb painted is transitive and the 
noun house is in the objective case. 

Write ten sentences, using the following nouns in the 
objective case, and giving the proper diacritical mark to 
the letter c in each : comb, collar, citizen, clamor, circus, 
evidence, district, convict, city, fence. 

Model. — A large crowd of people attended the gir-eus. 



LESSON XL VII. 

A Preposition shows the relation between its object 
and the word that the phrase modifies. Its object is a 
noun or pronoun. 

Some of the most common prepositions are: in, to, for, 
by, neai:, above, around, below, through, across, etc. 

Write ten sentences each containing a noun in the 
objective case after one of the above prepositions. 

Model. — The lawyer found the quotation in the 
book mentioned. 



LESSON XLVIII. 

PRONOUNS IN THE OBJECTIVE CASE. 

See Art. X. 

Learn the objective case of all the personal pronouns. 

Write sentences with the following pronouns used after 
transitive verbs or prepositions: you, me, it, her, him, 
them, thee. 

Model. — The man saw you reading a book. 



32 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON XLIX. 

POSSESSIVE CASE. 

See Art. XVI. 

The Possessive Case in tRe singular number is 
usually formed by annexing an apostrophe and an s to the 
simple form of the noun; as, The man's horse was killed 
in a railroad accident. 

Write ten sentences, using one of the following nouns 
in the possessive case in each; also have the nouns in the 
possessive case modify the subjects of the sentence : student, 
farmer, mechanic, horse, cow, sheep, poet, girl, woman, 
orator. 

Model. — The students failure was owing to his la,ck 
of preparation. 



LESSON L. 



Write ten sentences each with a noun in the possessive 
case modifying another noun in the objective case. 

Model. — The man caught the boy's horse as it was 
running away. 



LESSON LI. 

See Art. X. 

Write ten sentences each containing a personal 
pronoun in the possessive case. 

Model. — The orator held the attention of his audience 
for more than two hours. 



PUNCTUATION. 33 

LESSON LIL 

Eule of Punctuation. — A period must be placed after 
every abbreviated word; as, Gen., Dr., D. D., etc. These 
abbreviations stand respectively for general, doctor, and 
doctor of divinity. 

Eule of Punctuation. — When important words are 
omitted, the omission is indicated by a comma. 

Columbus set sail from Spain on Friday, Aug. 3, 
1492, and discovered the New World on Friday, Oct. 
12, 1492. 

Notice that periods are placed after the abbreviations 
and commas are inserted where words are omitted. The 
full expression would be — on Friday, which was the third 
day of August of the year 1492. 

Explain the punctuation of the following sentence: I 
saw the man at Eavenswood, Jackson Co., W. Va., on 
Friday, July 4, 1884. 

Punctuate the following sentences correctly after they 
have been copied on the blackboard: 

1. The fight between the Monitor and the Merrimac 
took place near Fortress Monroe Va Sunday March 9 

1862 

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born at Salem Mass 
July 4 1804 

3. Hawthorne died at Plymouth N H on Thursday 
May 19 1864 

4. Washington Irving was born in New York on 
Thursday April 3 1783 



34 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

5. Irving died at Sunnyside N Y on Tuesday Nov 
29 1859 

6. On Sunday July 21 1861 the first great battle of 
the American civil war was fought 

7. On Friday June 17 1825 La Fayette participated 
in the ceremonies attending the laying of the corner-stone 
of the Bunker Hill monument 



LESSON LIII. 

Write ten sentences each stating some fact. Give the 
time and place of the event, and punctuate in accordance 
with the preceding principles. 

Model. — George Washington was inaugurated Presi- 
dent of the United States on Thursday, Apr. 30, 1789. 



LESSON LIT. 

LETTER-WRITING. 

The following points will be considered in letter- 
writing: 

1. The heading. 

2. The introduction. 

3. The body of the letter. 

4. The close. 

5. The address. 



LETTEK-WRITING. 35 

The Heading consists of the name of the place and the 
date. 

The following will serve as models : 

1. Hornellsville, N. Y., May 10, 1876. 

2. Sharon, Mercer Co., Pa., Jan. 2, 1882. 

3. Palmer House, Chicago, 111., Aug. 10, 1879. 

In the case of small towns, it is better to add the name 
of the county. 

The Introduction includes the name of the person with 
the proper title and the complimentary address. When 
an intimate friend is addressed, the name may be 
omitted. 

The following will serve as models: 

1. Rev. John Jones, 

Dear Sir: 

2. Cobb, Andrews, & Co., 

Cleveland, 

Ohio, 

Dear Sirs, 

3. My dear Mother, — 

4. My dear Sister: — 

Note. — In a business letter it is customary to give the 
name of the place after the name of the person. It will 
be seen from the above examples thai the punctuation 
after the complimentary address may vary. The ones 
given here are all in good use. Many authorities place 



36 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

a period after the name of the State in such cases as the 
second example above, but there is no good reason for 
this. 

The Body of the letter must depend upon the kind . A 
letter of friendship should be written in an easy, familiar 
style. 

A business letter should be brief and clear in all its 
statements. 

The most common conclusions will be seen in the 
following : 

Your affectionate son; 

Your sincere friend; 

Yours truly; Yours respectfully. 

There should be a comma between the complimentary 
close and the signature. 

The following will serve as a model for the address on 
the envelope: 

Dr. G. W. Johnson, 

Jefferson, 
Ashtabula Co., 

Ohio. 

Write a letter of friendship to some intimate friend. 

Note.— The teacher should criticise every part of the 
letter — heading, construction of sentences, punctuation, 
spelling, penmanship, neatness, folding, etc. Let this 
exercise be continued until the pupils can write credit- 
able letters. 



APPOSITION. 37 

LESSON LV. 

Write a business letter on one of the following themes: 

1. Order a book. 

2. Order a newspaper. 

3. Apply for a situation. 

4. Decline an offer of a situation. 

5. Ask for a recommendation. 

6. Ask for permission to hold a picnic on some one's 
grounds. 



LESSON LVI. 

APPOSITION. 

A noun or pronoun used to explain the meaning of 
another noun or pronoun, is in the same case with it by 
Apposition. 

Patrick Henry, a celebrated orator of Virginia, holds 
an honorable place among the great men of the land. 

Eule of Punctuation.— A noun in apposition with 
another is separated from the rest of the sentence by 
commas, if it has other words connected with it. 

Note. — The noun is not usually separated by commas 
if it is not modified by any other words than a or the. 

Example. — Samuel Adams the statesman was highly 
esteemed. 

Note. — Notice the punctuation in this example and in 
the one preceding. 



38 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Write ten sentences, using the following names as the 
subjects modified by nouns in apposition : Daniel Webster, 
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, 
Thomas Jefferson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Wesley, 
Hiram Powers, Edward Everett, Abraham Lincoln. 

llodel. — Thomas Jefferson, a young student of great 
promise, listened to Patrick Henry's memorable speech 
before the Virginia Convention. 

Explain the punctuation marks and capitals used in 
the sentences written. 



LESSON LVIL 

APPOSITION. 

Write ten sentences, using the names of the last lesson 
in the objective case modified by nouns in apposition. 

Model. — The audience listened to Daniel Webster, 
the most celebrated orator of his day. 



LESSON LVIII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

THE OLD MAN DREAMS. 
1. 

Oh! for one hour of youthful joy, 
Give back my twentieth spring ; 

I'd rather laugh a bright-haired boy 
Than reign a bearded king. 



MEMORY GEM. 39 

2. 
One moment let my life-blood stream 

From boyhood's fount of flame! 
Give me one giddy, reeling dream 
Of life, all love and fame ! 
3. 
My listening angel heard the prayer, 
And calmly smiling said: 
" If I but touch thy silver' d hair, 
Thy hasty wish had sped. 
4. 
" But is there nothing in thy track, 
To bid thee fondly stay, 
While the swift seasons hurry back 
To find the wished-for day?" 
5. 
"Ah! truest soul of womankind! 
Without thee, what were life ? 
One bliss I cannot leave behind ; 
I'll take — my — precious — wife." 
6. 
The angel took a sapphire pen, 
And wrote in rainbow dew: 
" The man would be a boy again, 
And be a husband, too! 
7. 
" And is there nothing yet unsaid, 
Before the change appears? 
Remember all their gifts have fled 
With these dissolving years!" 



40 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

8. 

"Why, yes; for memory would recall 
My fond paternal joys, 
I could not bear to leave them all, 
I'll take — my — girl — and boys!" 

9. 
The smiling angel dropped his pen ; 

" Why, this would never do; 
The man would be a boy again, 

And be a father, too! " 

10. 

And so I laughed — my laughter woke 

The household with its noise — 

And wrote my dream, when morning broke, 

To please the gray-haired boys. 

— Holmes. 



LESSON LIX. < 
Write the thought of the above poem as an essay. 



LESSON LX. 

Points to be considered in the last poem. 

1. Point out the quotations. 

2. Explain the use of the apostrophe in the first, the 
second, and the fifth stanzas. 

3. Point out five nouns in the first stanza. 

4. Point out three pronouns in the third stanza. 



ABBREVIATIONS. 41 

5. Give the proper diacritical marks of the following 
words: moment, giddy, dream, angel, seasons, back, find, 
soul, leave, sapphire, broke 



LESSON LXI. 

ABBREVIATIONS. 

Write ten sentences with each subject modified by one 
or more of the following abbreviated titles: A.M., A. B., 
B.S., D. D., LL.D., M. D., Sen., Jr., Esq., M. 0. 

Model. — Kev. Howard Crosby, D. D., LL. D., a dis- 
tinguished preacher, is a scholar of recognized ability. 

Note. — Notice that the titles are in apposition with 
the name, and are, therefore, separated from the rest of 
the sentence by commas. Notice, also, that in the title 
LL. D. there is no period after the first L. The two L's 
are used to indicate plurality. 

MEANING OF COMMON ABBREVIATIONS. 

A. M., Master of Arts. Esq., Esquire. 

A. B., Bachelor of Arts. M. C, Member of Congress. 

B. S., Bachelor of Science. Ph. D., Doctor of Philosophy. 
D. D., Doctor of Divinity. Gen., General. 

LL. D., Doctor of Laws. Mr., Mister. 
Sen., Senior. Mrs., Mistress. 

Jr., Junior. 



42 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON LXII. 

THE VERB. 

Note. — The pupil should examine the conjugation of 
the verb to love in the present tense, Art. XIII. , 21, 
and should also study the subject of person in Art. II., 2, 
and Art. XIII., 26. The pupil should understand clearly 
that in the simple form of the verb, present iense, the 
third person singular always ends in s, and that the sim- 
ple form of the verb is used for the other persons and 
numbers. 

SINGULAR. PLURAL. 

1. Person, I love, 1. We love, 

2. Person, You love, 2. You love, 

3. Person, He loves. 3. They love. 

The Present Tense denotes present time. 

Write ten sentences, using the following nouns as sub- 
jects, and the accompanying verbs as predicates. Write 
the verbs in the present tense: 

Horse, walk ; dog, run ; boy, play ; cow, eat ; girl, write ; 
father, love; clerk, sell; son, ride; house, stand. 

Model. — The horse walks very fast. 

The most common way of forming the plural of nouns 
is to add s to the singular. See Art. IV., 5. 

Write ten sentences, using as the subjects the nouns 
given above in the plural number, and the verbs in the 
present tense. 

Model* — The man's horses walk very slowly. 



PLURAL NUMBER TENSE. 43 

LESSON LXIII. 

Write ten sentences with the subjects in the plural 
number formed by adding es to the singular. Have the 
verbs in the present tense, indicative mode. 

Model. — The churches stand on the highest part of 
the hill. 



LESSON LXIV. 

See Art. XIII, 21. 

Write ten sentences containing the following verbs in 
the future tense, indicative mode: see, write, eat, read, run, 
walk, hit, hurt, chop, ride. 

Model. — The boy will see all the wonders of the city. 

Note. — Notice that the sign of the future in the third 
person is will. 



LESSON LXV. 

See Art. XIII., 18. 

Write ten sentences containing the following verbs in 
the past tense, indicative mode: walk, talk, love, seem, 
rain, snow, seize, discover, discourage, deceive: 

Model. — The man walked forty miles in one day. 

Note. — Have the pupils understand clearly why these 
verbs are regular. 



44 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON LXVL 

Write fifteen sentences containing regular verbs in the 
indicative mode: five in the pres. perf. tense, five in past 
perf. tense, and five in future perf. tense. 

Model. — The students have studied their lessons very 
carefully. 

In the future perfect tense does the singular form of 
the verb differ from the plural form? How is it in the 
past perfect tense? How in the present perfect tense? 
In the simple form of the verb, indicative mode, active 
voice, in how many places does the singular form of the 
verb differ from the plural form ? 

Note. — Study the conjugation of the verb to love Art. 
XIII. 



LESSON LXYH. 

The law for adding s or es to form the third person 
singular of a verb in the present tense is* the same as the 
law for forming the plural of nouns. See Art. IV. 

Write sentences containing the following verbs in the 
indicative mode, present tense, with the subjects in the 
third person and singular number: employ, survey, con- 
vey, reply, rely, rally, carry, branch, echo, veto, woo, coo, 
do, specify. 

Mode). — The farmer employs a large number of 
laborers to assist him. 



IRREGULAR VERBS. 45 

LESSON LXYIII. 

See Art. XIII., 18. 

The law for the formation of the different forms of 
irregular verbs is the same as for regular verbs. The 
past tense and perfect participle of all irregular verbs 
must be memorized. Much may be done to correct com- 
mon errors of speech in young pupils before they under- 
stand anything of the theory of language. They may be 
taught the principal parts of the most common irregular 
verbs without the use of technical terms. 



SS. IND. 


PAST IND. 


PERF. PART 


do, 


did, 


done. 


see, 


saw, 


seen. 


g°> 


went, 


gone. 


eat, 


ate, 


eaten. 


sit, 


sat, 


sat. 



In the most of these verbs there is seldom a mistake in 
the present and future tenses. A child can be taught 
that if he desires to express past time, with one word, it 
must be the word in the middle column. If the auxiliary 
have, has, or had is used, the word in the third column 
must be used. 

The man did the work, not done the work. 
The boy saw the man, not seen the man. 
The boy had gone, not had went. 
The boy had seen, not had saw. 

Write ten sentences with compound subjects and the 



46 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

past tense, indicative mode, of the following verbs as the 
predicates : do, see, go, eat, sit, break, give, run, speak, fall. 

Model. — James, William, and John did the work very 
carefully. 



LESSON LXIX. 

Write ten sentences with each subject modified by a 
noun in apposition, and the verbs of the preceding lesson 
in the present perfect tense, indicative mode, as the 
predicates. 

Model. — James Brown, the careless boy, has broken 
the pitcher. 



LESSON LXX. 

Write ten sentences with each subject modified by a 
noun in the possessive and the verbs of Lesson LXVIIL, 
in the past perfect tense, indicative mode, as the predicates. 

Model. — Mr. Smith's boy had eaten the apple. 



LESSON LXXI. 

Studv all the forms of the verb to be in the three tenses — 
present, past, and future. 

Write eighteen sentences, using the verb to be in each 
of the forms of the three tenses mentioned above. 

Model. — I am very anxious to visit the city at that time. 

Note. — Observe carefully the difference between the 
singular and the plural forms of the verb. 



PASSIVE VOICE. 47 

LESSON LXXII. 

Notice that the law for the formation of the perfect 
tenses of the verb to be is the same as for other verbs in 
those tenses. They are formed by the perfect participle 
preceded by the auxiliaries have, has, had, will have, etc. 

Write twelve sentences, using the verb to be in some 
form of the perfect tenses. 

Model. — The man has been very attentive to all his 
duties. 



LESSON LXXIII. 

See Art. XIII., 22. 

Study the passive form of verbs carefully, and notice 
the law by which it is made. 

Write ten sentences containing the following verbs in 
the past tense, indicative mode, passive voice, the sub- 
jects being in the singular number: perform, write, see, 
eat, freeze, do, know, shoot, shake, take. 

Model. — The work was done with great skill. 

Prepare a synopsis of each verb in the first person, 
indicative mode, passive voice. See Art. XIII. , 19. 



LESSON LXXIV. 

Write ten sentences containing the following nouns in 
the plural number, and the verbs in the passive voice: 



48 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

lady, baby, ally, alley, survey, turkey, volley, levy, covey, 
journey. 

Model. — The ladies were dressed in the height of 
fashion. 



LESSON LXXV. 

Write ten sentences containing, as subjects, nouns end- 
ing in y, whose plurals are formed by changing y into 
ies. Have the verbs in the passive voice. 

Model. — Her navies were destroyed three times. 



LESSON LXXVI. 

Write ten sentences containing, as subjects, nouns end- 
ing in y, whose plurals are formed by adding s simply. 
Have the verbs in the passive voice. 

Model. — The turkeys will all be killed on Thanks- 
giving Day. 



LESSON LXXVII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

Go forth, then, language of Milton and Hampden, 
language of my country, take possession of the North 
American Continent ! Gladden the waste places with every 
tone that has been rightly struck on the English lyre, 
with every English word that has been spoken well for 
liberty and for man! Give an echo to the now silent and 
solitary mountains ; gush out with the fountains, that as 



MEMORY GEM. 49 

yet sing their anthems all day long without response; fill 
the valleys with the voices of love in its purity, the pledges 
of friendship in its faithfulness ; and as the morning sun 
drinks the dewdrops from the flowers all the way from 
the dreary Atlantic to the Peaceful Ocean, meet him 
with the joyous hum of the early industry of freemen! 
Utter boldly and spread widely through the world 
the thoughts of the coming apostles of the people's 
liberty, till the sound that cheers the desert shall thrill 
through the heart of humanity, and the lips of the mes- 
senger of the people's power, as he stands in beauty upon 
the mountains, shall proclaim the renovating tidings of 
equal freedom for the race. — Bancroft 

1. Study this selection carefully, so that its beauty and 
strength may be appreciated. 

2. Tell the cases of all the nouns, and give reasons. 

3. Point out all the verbs in the imperative mode. 

4. Give reason for each mark of punctuation, etc. 

5. Give diacritical marks of following words : lyre 
echo, dewdrops, pledges, proclaim, etc. 



LESSON LXXVIII. 

See Art. XIII., 27. 

Write ten sentences each containing a copulative verb 
with a noun as the predicate. 

Model. — George Washington was chosen President 

of the United States. 
4 



50 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Parse a noun in each sentence after this model 



George "Washington 



prop, noun, 
third per., 
sing, no., 
mas. gen., 
nom. case, 
sub. of sentence. 



Note. — A small amount of parsing may be made a use- 
ful exercise. It is often carried to an extreme. 



LESSON LXXIX. 

Write ten sentences containing copulative verbs with 
adjectives as predicates. 

Model. — The man seemed cheerful. 

Note. — Use ten different copulative verbs. 



LESSON LXXX. 

See Art. V. 

Write twenty sentences illustrating each of the four 
possible uses of the nominative case by five sentences. 

Model. — Sub. : The boy is a fine scholar. 

Pred. : The best scholar in the school was a boy. 

App. with Sub. : The best scholar in school, a very tal- 
ented boy, gives promise of success. 

App. with Pred. : Johnson was a bright youth, a boy of 
great promise. 



PUNCTUATION. 51 

LESSON LXXXI. 

Let the teacher dictate the following sentences and the 
pupils copy them on the blackboard. Punctuate them 
properly, and give reason in each case. 

1. It was the great hall of William Ruf us the hall which 
had resounded with acclamations at the inauguration of 
thirty kings the hall which had witnessed the just sentence 
of Bacon and the just absolution of Somers the hall where 
the eloquence of Strafford had for a moment awed and 
melted a victorious party inflamed with just resentment 
the hall where Charles had confronted the High Court of 
Justice with the placid courage which has half redeemed 
his fame. — Macaulay. 

2. In 1455 he espoused Joanna a Portuguese princess 
sister of Alfonso the Fifth the reigning monarch. 

— Prescott. 

3. The son Philip the Second was a small meagre man 
much below the middle height with thin legs a narrow 
chest and the shrinking timid air of an habitual invalid. 

—Motley. 

4. The best heads that ever existed Pericles Plato Julius 
Caesar Shakespeare Goethe Milton were well-read univer- 
sally educated men and quite too wise to undervalue let- 
ters. — Emerson. 

5. We turn for a short time from the topics of the day 
to commemorate in all love and reverence the genius and 
virtues of John Milton the poet the statesman the philos- 
opher the glory of English literature the champion and 
the martyr of English liberty. — Macaulay. 



52 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

6. The wits of Queen Annes reign or even of Charles 
lis were not French by their taste or their imitation. 

— Be Quincey. 



LESSON LXXXII. 

SUBORDINATE ELEMENTS. 

See Art. XIX., 12, 15. 

Write ten sentences with the subjects modified by 
adjective elements of the first class, viz., adjectives, nouns 
in the possessive case, and nouns in apposition. Have 
the verbs all copulative. 

Model. — The farmer's house was a fine building. 



LESSON LXXXIIL 

Write ten sentences with the objects of transitive verbs 
modified by adjective elements of the first class. 

Model. — The orator addressed a large croivd, a most 
intelligent audience. 

Parse a noun in each sentence according to model. Dia- 
gram each sentence. Model: 

'Sub. i orator | The 

Simple 
Declarative < 
Sentence. ( (a 

Pred. «{ addressed j crowd j large 

( ^^^^jLtaUigentjmoBt 



MODIFYING ELEMENTS. 53 

LESSON LXXXIV. 

Write ten sentences with the predicates modified by 
objective elements of the first clas§. 

Model. — The student wrote a long letter. 
Diagram the sentences. 



LESSON LXXXV. 

Write ten sentences with the predicates modified by 
adverbial elements of the first class. 

Model. — The young man studies very diligently. 



LESSON LXXXVI. 

Write ten sentences with the following verbs modified 
by objective and adverbial elements of the first class: 
write, paint, accomplish, read, sing, speak, plan, see, lay, 
run. 

Model. — The engineer ran the train very slowly. 



LESSON LXXXVII. 

Write ten sentences each containing an adjective, an 
adverbial, and an objective element of the first class. 

Model. — An honest man does his work very conscien- 
tiously. 

Note. — Continue the work of diagraming until the 
subject is mastered. 



54 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON LXXXVIII. 
MEMORY GEM. 

Oh! there is an enduring tenderness in the love of a 
mother to her son that transcends all other affections of 
the heart. It is neither to be chilled by selfishness, nor 
daunted by danger, nor weakened by worthlessness, nor 
stifled by ingratitude. She will sacrifice every comfort 
to his convenience; she will surrender every pleasure to 
his enjoyment; she will glory in his fame, and exult in his 
prosperity ; and, if misfortune overtake him, he will be all 
the dearer to her from misfortune ; and if disgrace settle 
upon his name, she will still love and cherish him in 
spite of his disgrace ; and, if all the world beside cast him 
off, she will be all the world to him. — Irving. 

1. Study the beauty of thought and language. 

2. State the case of each noun and pronoun, and give 
reason. 

3. Point out all the adjective elements of the first class; 
the objective elements of the first class; adverbial ele- 
ments of the first class. 



LESSON LXXXIX. 

Write ten sentences with each predicate modified by an 
adjective element of the first class. 

Model. — The student was considered a very accurate 
scholar. 

Note. — Observe that the predicate must be either a noun 
or pronoun, and that the verb must be copulative. 




POSSESSIVE CASE. 55 

LESSON XC. 

Write ten sentences containing the following nouns in 
the plural number and possessive case : farmer, boy, child, 
man, lady, turkey, girl, woman, horse, teacher. 

Model. — The farmers' homes were ornamented in a 
most attractive style. 

LESSON XCI. 

Write ten sentences each containing a noun in the pos- 
sessive plural modifying a noun in the objective case. 

Model. — The farmer carried the boys' books to the 
schoolhouse. 

Note. — Point out all the modifying elements. 



LESSON XCIL 

Select ten sentences from standard writers, containing 
nouns in the plural possessive. 

Model.— The issue of my case is at least a proof that 
opium, after a seventeen years' use and an eight years' 
abuse of its powers, may still be renounced. 

— De Quincey. 

LESSON XCIII. 

Select from standard writers five sentences containing 
proper nouns ending in s with the possessive formed by 
an apostrophe and an s. 

Model. — Columbus's hypothesis rested on much 
stronger ground than mere popular belief. — Prescott 



56 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Select five sentences containing proper nouns ending in 
s with the possessive formed by axx apostrophe alone. 
Model. — Burns'' poems are very popular. 



LESSON XCIV. 

Write ten sentences each containing a noun in {he 
plural number formed by dropping the / or fe of the sin- 
gular and adding ves. 

Model. — The boys took their knives with them on the 
excursion. 



LESSON XCV. 

Write ten sentences each containing a noun in the 
plural number whose singular ends in f or fe, the plurals 
being formed by adding s. 

Model. — All the chiefs of the departments assembled 
at the capitol to consult about important business. 

Give the proper diacritical mark to the s in each word. 



LESSON XCVI. 

Write sentences containing the following words in the 
plural number: echo, potato, trio, canto, solo, piano, tyro, 
memento, lasso, halo. 

Model. — A merry party of boys roused the echoes 
among the hills. 



MODIFYING ELEMENTS. 57 

LESSON XCVII. 

See Art. XIX., 15, 16. 

Write ten sentences each containing an adjective ele- 
ment of the second class modifying the subject. 
Model. — The love of money is the root of all evil. 
Give the diacritical marks of all the nouns. 



LESSON XCVIII. 

Write ten sentences with an adjective element of the 
second class modifying the predicate of each. 

Model. — Jefferson was considered a man of fine 
ability. 

What kind of verbs must these sentences contain ? 



LESSON XCIX. 

Write ten sentences with the subjects modified by 
adjective elements of the second class and the predicates 
modified by adverbial elements of the second class. 

Model. — The heroes of 1776 have always been heldm 
the highest estimation. 

Give the diacritical marks of all the important words. 



LESSON C. 

See Eules for Spelling, Art. XXXVIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing an objective ele- 
ment of the first class and an adverbial element of the 



58 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

second class. Use the following verbs in the past tense, 
indicative mode, as the predicates: plan, fan, drag, stop, 
drop, crop, flop, man, equip, prefer. 

Model. — The sailors manned the vessel with the great- 
est skill. 

Note. — Observe any peculiarity of spelling. 



LESSON CI. 



Write ten sentences using the following verbs in the 
past tense, indicative mode, as the predicates: prop, mop, 
mope, plan, plane, throb, slap, droop, pin, pine. 

Model.— The man's heart throbbed with the greatest 
fear. 

Give diacritical marks of all the verbs. 



LESSON OIL 

Write ten sentences with the subjects in the singular 
number modified by every, each, no, no one. Have a 
pronoun referring to the subject as its antecedent in 
the sentence, and use such tenses as have different forms 
for the singular and plural. 

Model.— Every passenger has been required to pur- 
chase his ticket before entering the car. 

What other tenses could be used in the active voice? 
In the passive voice? 

Give diacritical marks of the nouns and verbs. 



INFINITIVE. 59 

LESSON cm. 

Write ten sentences each containing an infinitive used 
as an objective element of the second class. 

Model. — The student earnestly desires to learn. 
Notice that to learn is the object of the verb desires. 



LESSON CIV. 
Write ten sentences each containing an infinitive used 
as an adverbial element of the second class. 

Model. — The lady went to the city to visit the schools. 



LESSON CV. 
See Art. XIII., 17. 

Write sentences each containing one of the following 
verbs in the past tense, indicative mode, modified by infin- 
itives: intend, plan, expect, hope, purpose, command. 



LESSON CVI. 

Write ten sentences, infinitives as subjects or predicates. 
Model. — To err is human. 



LESSON CVII. 

Write ten sentences each containing an adjective, an 
adverbial, and an objective element, the modifying ele- 
ments being of the second class. 

Model. — The students of the college desire to excel in 
their work. 



60 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CVIII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

The eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general 
character, and formed indeed a part of it. It was bold, 
manly, and energetic; and such the crisis required. 
When public bodies are to be addressed on momentous 
occasions, when great interests are at stake and strong 
passions excited, nothing is valuable in speech further 
than as it is connected with high intellectual and moral 
endowments. Clearness, force, and earnestness are the 
qualities which produce conviction. True eloquence, 
indeed, does not consist in speech. It can not be brought 
from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, but they 
w T ill toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled 
in every way, but they can not compass it. It must exist 
in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected 
passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation may 
aspire after it; they can not reach it. It comes, if it 
come at all, like the outbreak of a fountain from the 
earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spon- 
taneous, original, native force. The graces taught in the 
schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances of 
speech shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and 
the fate of their wives, their children, and their country, 
hang on the decision of the hour. Then words have lost 
their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory 
contemptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and 
subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then 
patriotism is eloquent; then self-devotion is eloquent. 
The clear conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, 






MEMORY GEM. 61 

the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, 
speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, inform- 
ing every feature, and urging the whole man onward, 
right onward to his object — this, this is eloquence; or 
rather it is something greater and higher than eloquence ; 

it is action, noble, sublime, godlike action. 

— Webster. 

[Note. — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died July 

4, 1826. Webster delivered the famous speech from 

which this extract is taken, in Faneuil Hall, Boston, Aug. 

2, 1826.] 

1. This is probably the best definition of eloquence in 
the English language. 

2. Study the thought carefully. 

3. Point out and classify the different modifiers in it. 

4. Give the case of each noun and pronoun and state 
the reason. 

5. Give diacritical marks of the following words : resem- 
bled, general, character, energetic, occasions, excited, force, 
declamation, volcanic, genius, action. 

6. Point out a sentence with a compound subject. Note 
the punctuation. 

7. Explain any peculiarity of spelling in outrunning. 

Write an essay on one of the following subjects: Web- 
ster's Boyhood; Webster as a Lawyer; Webster as an 
Orator. 

Note. — Let the composition work be carried on each 
week as has been suggested heretofore. 



62 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CIX. 

Write sentences using each of the following verbs 
in such forms as will reveal the principal parts of the 
verbs: see, lose, choose, write, steal, eat. 

Models . — The boy will see the man. The boy saw 
the man. The man had been seen by the boy. 

In how many tenses of the indicative mode is the first 
of the principal parts used ? The second ? In how many 
tenses of the indicative mode, active voice, is the perfect 
participle used ? In the passive voice ? 



LESSON CX. 



Let the following sentences be dictated by the teacher 
and copied by the pupils. Explain each mark of punct- 
uation. 

1. Let me make the ballads of a nation said Fletcher 
€ind I care not who maies the laws. 

2. A boy says Plato is the most vicious of all wild 
beasts. 

3. Nature never sends a great man into the planet says 
Emerson without confiding the secret to another soul. 

4. The prisoner said the witness was a convicted thief. 

5. God forgive me said Hilda if I have said a need- 
lessly cruel word Let it pass answered Miriam I whose 
heart it has smitten upon forgive you And tell me before 
we part forever what have you seen or known of me since 
last we met. — Hawthorne. 



DIAGRAMING. 63 

LESSON CXI. 

Diagram the following sentences, classify all the ele- 
ments, and parse the important words. 

' 1. The history of persecution is a history of endeavors 
to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope 
of sand. — Emerson. 

2. With consistency a great soul has absolutely noth- 
ing to do. — Emerson. 

3. Spartans, stoics, heroes, saints, and gods use a short 
and positive speech. — Emerson. 

4. Without doubt the greatest man of rebellion times r 
the one matchless among forty millions for the peculiar 
difficulties of the period, was Abraham Lincoln. 

— Longstreet. 

LESSON CXII. 

See Art. XIII., 10. 

Write ten sentences each containing an infinitive with 
the sign omitted. Give the proper diacritical marks to 
the verbs. 

Model. — I saw the boy chop the tree down. 



LESSON CXIII. 

Select from standard writers ten sentences containing 
an appositive introduced by as. 

Model. — Genius may almost be defined as the faculty 
of acquiring poverty. — Whipple. 

Parse all the nouns. 



64 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



LESSON CXIV. 

Write sentences containing the present, past, and past 
perfect tenses, indicative mode, of the following verbs: to 
lie (to recline), to lay, to rise, to raise, to sit, to set. 

Have each sentence contain a word with the unmarked 
sound of ch. 



Model. 

hours. 



•The children lay on the grass for several 



Parse the verbs. 

MODEL. 

irreg. int. v., 

p. p., lie, lay, lain, 

ind. mode, rT , -, 

, , [ 1 lay, we lay, 

past tense, v •v J \ 

lay r . , \ You lay, vou lay, 
J conjugated -^ u , J \ v i J 
third |er., 1 He lay, they lay, 

plu. no., ^ 

agrees with sub. children. 

g Note. — Pupils should be drilled very carefully on 
these verbs. Let them understand which ones are tran- 
sitive and which intransitive. 



LESSON CXV. 

Select from standard writers sentences that contain the 
verbs of the preceding lesson. 

Model. — Heaven lies about us in our infancy! 

— Wordsworth. 



INCORRECT SENTENCES. 65 

LESSON CXYI 

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences: 

1. We received orders to lay upon our arms. 

— The Century. 

2. He dragged Greeley out and sat him up. 

— The Century. 

3. My horse laid down in the water. 

4. The girl sat the pitcher on the table. 

5. The man has set on the chair for a long time. 

6. The man raised up and then went away. 

7. The river raised a foot last night. 



LESSON CXVII. 

See Art. X., 8. 

Write fifteen sentences each containing a compound 
personal pronoun used for emphasis ; also a word with the 
hard sound of ch. Let five of the pronouns be in the 
first person, five in the second person, and five in the 
third person. 

Model. — I will sing the -chorus myself. 

Diagram the sentences. 

Write an account of an Imaginary Trip on the Missis- 
sippi, on the Hudson, on the Ohio, on the Amazon, on the 
Rhine. 

LESSON CXVIII. 

Write fifteen sentences each containing a compound 
personal pronoun with a reflexive use, and a word with 
the soft sound of ch. 
5 



66 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Model. — I injured myself very badly in repairing the 
maghine. 



LESSON CXIX. 

Select twelve sentences from standard writers each con- 
taining a compound personal pronoun. 

Model. — The generations of men are not like the 
leaves on the trees which fall and renew themselves with- 
out melioration or change ; individuals disappear like the 
foliage and the flowers; the existence of our kind is con- 
tinuous, and its ages are reciprocally dependent. 

— Bancroft. 



LESSON CXX. 

* 

MEMORY GEM. 

AFTER THE BURIAL. 
1. 

Yes, faith is a goodly anchor ; 
When skies are sweet as a psalm, 
At the bows it lolls so stalwart, 
In bluff, broad-shouldered calm. 

2. 

And when over breakers to leeward 
The tattered surges are hurled, 
It may keep our head to the tempest, 
With its grip on the base of the world. 



MEMORY GEM. 67 

3. 

But, after the shipwreck, tell me 
What help in its iron thews, 
Still true to the broken hawser, 
Deep down among seaweed and ooze? 

4. 
In the breaking gulfs of sorrow, 
When the helpless feet stretch out 
And find in the deeps of darkness 
No footing so solid as doubt. 

5. 
Then better one spar of Memory, 
One broken plank of the Past, 
That our human heart may cling to, 
Though hopeless of shore at last! 

6. 
To the spirit its splendid conjectures 
To the flesh its sweet despair, 
Its tears o'er the thin-worn locket 
With its anguish of deathless hair! 

7. 
Immortal ? I feel it and know it, 
Who doubts it of such as she ? 
But that is the pang's very secret, — 
Immortal away from me. 

8. . 
There's a narrow ridge in the graveyard 
Would scarce stay a child in his race, 
But to me and my thought it is wider 
Than the star-sown vague of space. 



68 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

9. 

Your logic, my friend, is perfect, 
Your words most drearily true; 
But since the earth clashed on her coffin, 
I keep hearing that, and not you. 

10. 

Console, if you will, I can bear it ; 
'Tis a well-meant alms of breath; 
But not all the preaching since Adam 
Has made Death other than Death. 

11. 

It is pagan; ut wait till you feel it, — 
That jar of our earth, that dull shock 
When the ploughshare of deeper passion 
Tears down to our primitive rock. 

12. 

Communion in spirit! Forgive me, 

But I, who am earthy and weak, 

Would give all my incomes from dreamland 

For a touch of her hand on my cheek. 

13. 

That little shoe in the corner, 
So worn and wrinkled and brown, 
With its emptiness confutes you, 
And argues your wisdom- down. 

— Lowell. 

Study this selection critically as suggested in the pre- 
ceding gems. 



INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS. 69 

LESSON CXXI. 

Write five sentences containing interrogative pronouns 
in the nominative case; five sentences containing inter- 
rogative pronouns in the possessive case; five sentences 
containing interrogative pronouns in the objective case. 

Model. — Whom are you expecting to come on the 
next train ? 



LESSON CXXII. 

See Art. XII, 3. 

Write twelve sentences containing interrogative pro- 
nouns used adjectively: six modifying nouns in the nom- 
inative case and six modifying nouns in the objective case. 

Models. — What man ever accomplished so much work? 
What man did you see ? 



LESSON CXXIII. 

Select from standard writers twelve sentences illus- 
trating the three common uses of the period. 

Model.— The aged George II. died suddenly of apo- 
plexy on the twenty-fifth day of October, 1790. 

— Bancroft. 



LESSON CXXIV. 

Illustrate each use of the apostrophe by four sentences. 
Model. — The student wrote his 5 ' s very carelessly. 



70 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CXXV. 

COMPLEX SENTENCES. 

Study Art. XXII. carefully. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing an adverb- 
ial clause of time. 

Model. — When a great man falls, the nation mourns. 



LESSON CXXVI. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a condi- 
tional clause. Have one of the verbs in each in the pro- 
gressive form. 

See Art. XIII, 23. 

Model. — If the student is studying very diligently, 
he will probably succeed. 

Diagram the sentences after this model. 

Complex (Sub. j he 

Decla. \ f probably 

1 ( % J Sub.<( student <{ the 

Sentence. /Pred. 3 wi n succeed 1 

\ ( i. Pred. ■{ is studying <[ diligently <( very 



LESSON CXXVII. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a conces- 
sive clause. Use the following verbs in the progressive 
form in the subordinate clauses: plan, mop, mope, hoe, 
shoe, change, eye, pine, beg, dye. 

Model. — Although the man teas hoeing the corn very 
carefully, he did not seem able to keep the weeds, down. 



MEMORY GEM. 71 

LESSON CXXVIII. 
MEMORY GEM. 

Looking into himself, he saw weaknesses enough, but 
neither meanness nor dishonesty nor timidity. His over- 
weening self-esteem was his chief blemish; and, if he 
compared himself with his chief fellow-workers, there was 
some point on which he was superior to any one of them; 
he had more learning than Washington, or any other 
statesman of his age; better knowledge of freedom as 
grounded in law than Samuel Adams ; clearer insight into 
the constructive elements of government than Franklin; 
more power in debate than Jefferson; more courageous 
manliness than Dickinson ; more force in motion than Jay : 
so that, by varying and confining his comparisons, he 
could easily fancy himself the greatest of them all. He 
was capable of thinking himself the center of any circle, 
to which he had been no more than a tangent; his vanity 
was in such excess that in manhood it sometimes confu^pd 
his judgment, and in age bewildered his memory; but the 
stain did not reach beyond the surface; it impaired the 
luster, not the hardy integrity of his character. He was 
humane and frank, generous and clement; if he could 
never sit placidly under the shade of a greater reputation 
than his own, his envy, though it laid open how deeply 
his self-love was wounded, had hardly a tinge of malig- 
nity. He did his fame injustice when, later in life he 
represented himself as suffering from persecutions on 
account of his early zeal for independence; he was no 
weakling to whine about injured feelings ; he went to his 
task, sturdy and Gheery and brave; he was the hammer, 



72 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

and not the anvil; and it was for others to fear his 
prowess and to shrink under his blows. His courage 
was unflinching in debate, and everywhere else ; he never 
knew what fear was ; and had he gone into the army, as 
he once longed to do, he would have taken there the vir- 
tues of temperance, decision, and intrepidity. To his latest 
old age, his spirit was robust, buoyant, and joyous; he 
saw ten times as much pleasure as pain in the world; and, 
after his arm quivered and his eye grew dim, he was 
ready to begin life anew and fight its battle over again. 

— Bancroft on Adams. 

1. What is your estimate of this selection ? 

2. Is the author apparently fair in estimating Adams' 
character ? 

3. Why do you think so ? 

4. Point out all the compound personal pronouns in the 
selection and determine whether they are used for empha- 
sis or in a reflexive sense. 

5. State the case of each noun and pronoun and give 
reason. 

6. Parse in full five nouns. 

7. Point out all the adverbial clauses and classify them. 

8. Explain each point of punctuation. 

9. Show where the punctuation might be changed. 

10. What was Adams' chief blemish ? 

11. Why did he imagine himself greater than many of 
his associates? 

12. What is a tangent? 

13. Why is the letter e retained in courageous? See 
Art. XXXVIII. 



DERIVATIVES. 78 

14. Is laid open the best expression as used in the 
selection ? 



LESSON CXXIX. 

Study Art. XXXVIII., carefully. 

Write twelve complex sentences each containing an 
adverbial clause expressing cause. Use in the sentences 
adjectives derived from the following words: love, move, 
change, service, courage, rogue, sense, style, deserve, 
manage, peace, notice. 

Model. — The young man was a great favorite with his 
companions, because he had a most lovable character. 

Diagram the sentences, explain every punctuation 
mark, and notice all peculiarities of spelling. - 



LESSON CXXX. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a local 
clause. 

Model. — The farmer is still toiling ivhere he settled 
nearly forty years ago. 

Note. — Distinguish carefully between adverbial clauses 
of place and relative clauses introduced by where. See 
Art. XI., 14." 



LESSON CXXXI. 

Write fifteen complex sentences each containing a com- 
parative clause. Use the following adjectives in the 



74 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

comparative degree: hard, wise, honorable, good, bad, fat, 
hot, sad, mad, glad, dim, fit, wet, discreet, beautiful. 

Model. — This lesson is harder than the last lesson [is 
hard]. 

I am fitter to die than thou art. — Scott. 






LESSON CXXXII. 

Write twelve sentences each containing a comparative 
clause and an adverb in the comparative degree. 

Model. — The swallow flies more swiftly than the eagle. 



LESSON CXXXIII. 

Write complex sentences containing final clauses. Use 
in the sentences the following words with their proper 
diacritical marks: financier, forgery, hygiene, presentation, 
patron, recess, horizon, gratis, docile, franchise, dishonest, 
concord, combative, exquisite, lenient. 

Model. — The man was so good a f i'nangier that all his 
investments were profitable. 



LESSON CXXXIV. 

Write twenty complex sentences each containing an 
adverbial clause. Use the following words both as nouns 



COMPLEX SENTENCES. 75 

« 

and verbs: eye, man, pen, fan, sacrifice, grease, survey, 
cook, tree, swing. 

Models.— If they eye the man too closely, he may 
become alarmed. 

His eye was so badly hurt that it may never recover. 



LESSON CXXXV. 

Write twenty complex sentences each containing an 
adverbial clause. Select ten words that may be either 
nouns or verbs and use them in both senses as in the last 

lesson. 

Note. — Do not use the words of the last lesson. 



LESSON CXXXVI. 

Write twelve complex sentences each containing an 
adverbial clause. Let four of the principal propositions 
be interrogative, four imperative, and four exclamatory. 

Model. — If his moral sensibility had been propor- 
tioned to the force of his understanding, what limits 
could have been set to his genius and beneficent power ? 

— Emerson on Webster. 



LESSON CXXXVII. 

Study the following sentences as models and classify 
the subordinate clauses. 

1. Kasselas was so much delighted with a wider hori- 
zon that he could not soon be persuaded to return into 
the valley. —Johnson. 



76 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

2. A pun does not commonly justify a blow in return. 
But if a blow were given for such cause and death ensued, 
the jury would be judges both of the facts and of the 
pun, and might, if the latter were of an aggravated char- 
acter, return a verdict of justifiable -homicide. 

— Holmes. 

3. While his geographical labors elevated him to a 
communion with the learned, they were peculiarly calcu- 
lated to foster a train of thoughts favorable to nautical 
enterprise. — Irving on Columbus. 

4. Failure after long perseverance is much grander 
than never to have a striving good enough to be called a 
failure. — George Eliot 



LESSON CXXXVIII. 



MEMORY GEM, 



Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought 
forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in 
liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are 
created equal. Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, 
testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived 
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a 
great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate 
a portion of that field as a final resting place for those 
who here gave their lives that our nation might live. It 
is fitting that we should do this ; but, in a larger sense, 
we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and 
dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far beyond 



RELATIVE PRONOUN. 77 

anything we can do. The world will little note, nor long 
remember, what we say here; but it can never forget 
what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to 
dedicate ourselves to the unfinished work which they who 
fought here have thus far so nobly advanced; to conse- 
crate ourselves to the great task remaining ; and to gather 
from the graves of these honored dead increased devotion 
to that cause for which they gave their lives. Here let us 
resolve that thev shall not have died in vain ; that this 
nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom; and 
that government of the people, by the people, and for the 
people shall not perish forever from the earth. 

— Lincoln at Gettysburg, 



LESSON CXXXIX. 

Study Article XI. very carefully. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing the rela- 
tive pronoun who in the nominative case. 

Model. — The soldier who fought so valiantly on many 
battlefields is deserving of the highest praise. 

Point out the principal clauses, and the subordinate 
clauses, diagram the sentences, and parse the relative 
pronouns. 

MODEL. 

( I f The 

Complex I ( £ i 

\ Sub. ] Soldier ■{ Sub. <{ who , -, . . •. , 

t^ i ) I i ( valiantly^ so 

Decla - < LPred. i fought ] 

) (on battlefields <{ many 

Sentence. / c (|L * 

^ Pred. -j is deserving^ of praise | ^ hest 



78 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



who 



MODEL. 

sim. rel. pro., 

ant. soldier, 

third per., 

sing, no., 

mas. gen., 

agrees with ant., ( n. who, 

declined < poss. whose, 

( obj. whom, 
nom. case, 
sub. of fought. 

Note. — Study the punctuation carefully. Determine 
whether each relative clause should be set off by commas 
or not. 



LESSON CXL. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing the rela- 
tive pronoun who in the nominative case ; also the following 
words in the plural number: money, valley, chief, hoof, 
son-in-law, Miss Brown, phenomenon, crisis, proboscis, 
terminus. 

Model. — In great crises it is only the man of courage 
who can remain unmoved. 

Point out all the modifiers, diagram the sentences, and 
parse the relative pronouns. 



LESSON CXLI. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing the rela- 
tive pronoun who in the possessive case. Illustrate by 



DIACRITICAL MARKS. 79 

examples six different ways of forming the plurals of 
nouns. 

Model. — The student whose work was criticised so 
carefully had written his 6's very carelessly. 



LESSON CXLII. 

Write twelve complex sentences each containing the 
relative pronoun who in the objective case. Give in the 
sentences two examples each of words having the follow- 
ing sounds of a: a, a, a, a, a, a. 

Model. — The boy whom you saw threw the ball a long 
distance. 



LESSON CXLIII. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a relative 
clause. Give in the sentences examples of words having 
the following sounds of o: o, 6, 6, o, o. 

Model. — I saw the dog that killed the rat. 



LESSON CXLIV. 

Write ten sentences each containing the relative pro- 
noun ivhich in the nominative case. Use the following 
words with proper diacritical marks in the principal 
clauses: machine, police, whey, veil, antique, rein, weight, 
neigh, critique, pique. 

Model. — The magh'ine ivhich stood by the wayside was 
a model of beauty. 



80 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CXLV. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing the rela- 
tive pronoun which in the possessive case. 

Model. — The dog whose leg was broken was tenderly 
cared for. 

LESSON CXLVI. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing the rela- 
tive pronoun which in the objective case after a transitive 
verb. Let each sentence also contain a modifying element 
of the second class. 

Model. — The residence which I saw on the corner of 
the street was neat and attractive. 

Note. — Carry on the work of parsing, analyzing, and 
diagraming. 

LESSON CXLVII. 
MEMORY GEM. 

Foolish as it generally is to speculate upon what would 
have been if historical events had not occurred as they 
did, yet occasionally a supposition seems sure enough to 
be of interest in enabling us to appreciate the importance 
of an individual and the relationship of some prominent 
man to the public affairs in which he is concerned. No 
one doubts that the American colonies would at some time 
or other have become independent states, though George 
Washington had never lived. But no one who has care- 
fully studied that period can doubt that independence 



MEMORY GEM. 81 

would not have been achieved in the especial struggle of 
1776 without George Washington. His existence was 
essential to American success in that war. With him the 
colonies were on the verge of failure; without him they 
would inevitably have passed over that verge, and would 
have had to wait during an uncertain period for a better 
opportunity. The combination of his moral and mental 
qualities was so singular that he is an absolutely unique 
character in history. Other men belong to types and 
classes, and individuals of any type or class may be com- 
pared with each other. Washington is the only man of 
his type or class. Thus it happens that no one has yet suc- 
ceeded in describing his character. Every effort that has 
been made, is avowedly a total failure. There have been 
men as honest, as just, as patriotic, as devoted, as persist- 
ent, as noble-minded, as dignified, as much above suspi- 
cion, men as capable of inspiring that confidence which 
leads to willing obedience, men infinitely more magnetic 
and able to excite much warmer personal allegiance, men 
of larger brains, of greater strategic abilities (natural and 
acquired), of wider aptitude for statesmanship. Yet still 
Washington stands by himself, a man not susceptible of 
comparison with any other, whether for praise or dis- 
paragement; a man who never did a single act indicative 
of genius, yet who amid problems as novel and perplexing 
as ever tortured the toiler in public affairs never made a 
serious mistake. 

One writer will tell us that it was the grand morality of 
his nature which brought him success ; another prefers to 

say that it was his judgment; but neither of these mere 
6 



82 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

suggestions of leading traits accomplishes the explana- 
tions, or guides us to the heart of the undiscoverable 
secret. This lurks as hidden from the historian as does 
the principle of life from the anatomist. — Morse. 

Point out all the adverbial and relative clauses. Give 
the government of each noun and pronoun. 



LESSON CXLVIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing the relative pro- 
noun which in the objective case after a preposition. 

Illustrate by examples the three sounds of ch. 

Model. — The church to which I refer stands on Wash- 
ington street. 

LESSON CXLIX. 

Write ten sentences: five containing the relative pro- 
noun that in the nominative case and five with the rela- 
tive pronoun that in the objective case. 



LESSON CL. 



Write five sentences each containing the word that used 
in four ways: as an adjective, as a noun, as a conjunction, 
as a relative pronoun. See Art XL, 13. 



LESSON CLI. 

Write eight sentences with as as a relative pronoun: 

four in the nominative case and four in the objective case. 

Model* — He is such a person as will probably succeed. 




RELATIVE ADVERB. 83 

LESSON CLII 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a relative 
adverb. See Art. XL, 14. 

Models. — We look for new heavens and a new earth 
wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

It was a time when the bravest hearts began to tremble. 



LESSON CLIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing an interrogative 
pronoun and a relative pronoun. 

Model. — Whose house is that which we see in the 
distance ? 

LESSON CLIV. 

Write ten sentences each containing a compound rela- 
tive pronoun. Use what, whatever, and whoever in sen- 
tences so that both parts will be in the nominative case; 
again so that both parts will be in the objective case. 

Model. — Whoever strives earnestly will generally suc- 
ceed. 

Whatever is, is right. 

Note. — In parsing whoever it may be separated into 
its parts, he who and each parsed separately. If it is 
governed as one word, it is the subject of strives and will 
succeed. 

Whatever is equivalent to that which. Parse that as a 
noun and ivhich as a simple relative. Taken as one word 
whatever is the subject of the two verbs. For an exam pi o 



84 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

of whoever in the nominative and objective cases see 
Model, Lesson CLXVII. 



LESSON CLV. 

Select from standard writers examples of all the simple 
relative pronouns in the different cases. 

Model. — The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow 
from which we refuse to be divorced. — Irving. 



LESSON CLVI. 

RELATIVE CLAUSES. 

Dictate the following sentences and have the students 
copy them upon the blackboard. Punctuate and give 
reason for every point. Study the sentences as models 
and parse all the relative pronouns. 

1. I am always happy to meet persons who perceive the 
transcendent superiority of Shakespeare over all other 
writers. — Emerson. 

2. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a 
picture which we are willing to give the advantage of a 
good light. - — Emerson. 

3. Donatello of whose presence she was possibly not 
aware now pressed closer to her side. — Hawthorne. 

4. Actions looks words steps form the alphabet by 
which we may spell character. — Lavater. 

5. The firmest and noblest ground on which people can 
live is truth. — Emerson. 



MEMORY GEM. 85 

6. Every man who is not a monster a mathematician or 
a mad philosopher is the slave of some woman or other. 

— George Eliot 

7. He who would write heroic poems must make his 
whole life a heroic poem. —Milton. 

8. He that can not forgive others breaks the bridge 
over which he himself must pasc. — Herbert 

9. No man ever will unfold the capacities of his own 
intellect who does not at least checker his life with soli- 
tude. — De Quincey. 

10. There are moments when by some strange impulse 
we contradict our past selves fatal moments when a fit of 
passion like a lava stream lays low the work of half our 
lives. — George Eliot 

11. Every event that a man would master must be 
mounted on the run and no man ever caught the reins of 
thought except as it galloped by him. — Holmes. 



LESSON CLVII. 
MEMORY GEM. 

THE CHANGELING. 
1. 

I had a little daughter, 

And she was given to me 
To lead me gently backward 

To the Heavenly Father's knee, 
That I, by the force of nature, 

Might in some dim wise divine 
The depth of His infinite patience 

To this wayward soul of mine. 



86 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



I know not how others saw her, 

But to me she was wholly fair, 
And the light of the heaven she came from 

Still lingered and gleamed in her hair ; 
For it was as wavy and golden, 

And as,many changes took, 
As the shadows of sun-gilt ripples 

On the yellow bed of a brook. 



To what can I liken her smiling 

Upon me, her kneeling lover ? 
How it leaped from her lips to her eyelids, 

And dimpled her wholly over, 
Till her outstretched hands smiled also, 

And I almost seemed to see 
The very heart of her mother 

Sending sun through her veins to me! 



She had been with us scarce a twelve-month, 

And it hardJy seemed a day, 
When a troop of wandering angels 

Stole my little daughter away: 
Or perhaps those heavenly Zincali 

But loosed the hampering strings, 
And, when they had opened her cage-door, 

My little bird used her wings. 



MEMORY GEM. 87 



But they left in her stead a changeling, 

A little angel child, 
That seems like her bud in full blossom, 

And smiles as she never smiled. 
When I wake in the morning, I see it 

Where she always used to lie, 
And I feel as weak as a violet 

Alone 'neath the awful sky; 

6. 

As weak, yet as trustful also ; 

For the whole year long I see 
All the wonders of faithful nature 

Still worked for the love of me. 
Winds wander, and dews drip earthward, 

Eain falls, suns rise and set, 
Earth whirls, and all but to prosper 

A poor little violet. 

7. 

This child is not mine as the first was, 

I can not sing it to rest, 
I can not lift it up fatherly 

And bliss it upon my breast ; 
Yet it lies in my little one's cradle, 

And it sits in my little one's chair, 
And the light of the heaven she's gone to 

Transfigures its golden hair. — Lowell 



88 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CLVIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing a complex sentence 
and a direct quotation. Let the subject of the quotation 
be in the first person and the verb in the present or 
future tense. 

Model* — Mr. Jones remarked: " I am planning to go 
home just as soon as I shall be needed." 



LESSON OLIX. 

Change all the direct quotations of the last lesson to 
indirect quotations and note the change of person and 
tense. 

Model. — Mr. Jones remarked that he was planning to 
go home just as soon as he should be needed. 



LESSON CLX. 

See Art. XXII., 5. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a clause 
as the subject. 

Model. — That the project of peace should appear vis- 
ionary to great numbers of sensible men; should appear 
laughable even to numbers; should appear to the grave 
and good-natured to be embarrassed with extreme practi- 
cal difficulties, — is very natural. — Emerson. 



SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSES. 89 

LESSON CLXL 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a clause 
as the predicate. 

Model. — Emerson's statement is, that civilization is 
the power of good women. 



LESSON CLXIL 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a clause 
as the object. 

Model. — Irving says: U A sharp tongue is the only 
edged tool that grows keener with constant use." 

Give the diacritical marks of all the important words. 



LESSON CLXIII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB. 
1. 

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; 

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, 
When the blue wave rolls nightly o'er deep Galilee. 

2. 
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, 

That host with their banners at sunset were seen ; 
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath flown, 

That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. 



90 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

3. 

For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, 
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; 

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, 
And their hearts but once heaved and forever grew still ! 

4. 

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, 

But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride ; 

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, 
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. 

5. 

And there lay the rider distorted and pale, 

With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail ; 

And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, 
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. 

6. 
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail ; 
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; 
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, 
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord! 

— Lord Byron. 

Bayard Taylor says this is one of the finest poems in 
the English language. He accounts in part for the mel- 
ody by the numerous long vowel sounds. 

1. Point out all the words having the long sound of the 
vowels. 

2. Point out the subordinate clauses. 

3. How .many times is the word lie used ? In what tense ? 

4. Point out the copulative verbs. 



SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSES. 91 

LESSON CLXIV. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a clause in 
apposition with the subject. 

Model. — The experience has been uniform that it is the 
gentle soul that makes the firm hero after all. t 

— Emerson, 

Diagram the sentences. 

MODEL. 

I f The 

Complex I Sub.jexperiencf^ S *M Jt 



Decla. / IPred.} is soul 

Sentence. I Pre d. Kas feeen uniform 



gentle 
Sub. -j that 

Pred. j makes f after aU 

^ 1 l-o \ tSa 



Parse all the words in the above sentence. 



LESSON CLXV. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a clause 
in apposition with the predicate. 

Model.— "Be this my proudest plume, not that I was 
the last to desert my country, but that I never deserted 
her." 

Note. — The verbs in these sentences must be copu- 
lative, the predicates must be such nouns as may mean 
the same as a clause. The most common nouns that will 
admit of this use are: thought, maxim, saying, law, decree, 
feeling, impression, etc. 



92 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CLXVI. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a clause 
in apposition with the object. 

Model. — AH men believe the statement that the world 
is round. 



LESSON CLXVII. 

See Art. XX., 8. 

Write ten sentences each containing an implied ques- 
tion as the subject. 

Model. — What kind of culture Shakespeare had is 
uncertain; how much he had is disputed; that he had as 
much as he wanted and whatever kind he wanted, must be 
clear to whoever considers the question. — Lowell 

Note. — The whole sentence is compound. The first 
two members contain implied questions as subjects. Let 
the students point out three relative clauses. Notice 
that the word whoever has two distinct cases. 



LESSON CLXVIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing an implied ques- 
tion as the object. 

Model. — At another time you shall know my name 
and ivho my mother was and ivho my father, and how I 
never knew their hard, hard history. — Dickens. 

Note. — The verb shall know has four objects, — the 
word name and three implied questions. 




SENTENCE GEMS. 93 

LESSON CLXIX. 

Study the following sentences as models, point out 
their elements of strength and beauty, classify the subor- 
dinate clauses, diagram the sentences, and parse important 
words. 

1. If you have a nation of men who have risen to that 
height of moral cultivation that they will not declare war 
or carry arms, for they have not so much madness left in 
their brains, you have a nation of lovers, of benefactors, of 
true, great, and able men. — Emerson. 

2. If we could see all the poems that exist potentially, 
nature and man being given, we should drop our critical 
rules, though they were as wide as Homer and Shakes- 
peare. — Whipple. 

3. If a veil interposes between the dim-sightedness of 
man and his future calamities, the same veil hides from 
him their alleviations ; and a grief which had not been 
feared is met by consolations which had not been hoped. 

— De Quincey. 

4. If a man makes me keep my distance, the comfort 
is, he keeps his at the same time. — Swift. 

5. If the men of wit and genius would resolve never to 
complain in their works of critics and detractors, the next 
age would not know that they ever had any. — Swift. 

6. Our daily familiar life is but a hiding of ourselves 
from each other behind a screen of trivial words and deeds, 
and those who sit with us at the same hearth are often the 
farthest off from the deep human soul within us, full of 
unspoken evil and unacted good. — George Eliot. 



94 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

7. Where is the mother who would willingly forget the 
infant that has perished like a blossom from her arms, 
though every recollection is a pang ? — Irving. 

8. If I were one of God's angels, with a nature incap- 
able of stain, and garments that never could be spotted, I 
would keep ever at your side and try to lead you upward. 

— Hawthorne. 

9. The scenery amid which the youth now strayed was 
such as arrays itself in the imagination when we read the 
beautiful old myths and fancy a brighter sky, a softer 
turf, a more picturesque arrangement of venerable trees 
than we find in the rude and untrained landscapes of the 
western world. — Hawthorne. 

10. Many Theresas have been born who found for them- 
selves no epic life wherein there was a constant unfolding 
of far-resonant action ; perhaps only a life of mistakes, the 
offspring of a certain spiritual grandeur ill- matched with 
the meanness of opportunity; perhaps a tragic failure 
which found no sacred poet and sank unwept into oblivion. 

— George Eliot. 

11. Whether I said any or all of these things to the 
schoolmistress or not, — whether I stole them out of Lord 
Bacon. — whether I cribbed them from Balzac, — whether 
I dipped them from the ocean of Tupperian wisdom, — or 
whether I have just found them in my head, laid there by 
that solemn fowl, experience, (who, according to my 
observation, cackles oftener than she drops real live eggs,) 
I can not say. — Holmes. 

12. If there is an angel who records the sorrows of men 
as well as their sins, he knows how many and how deep 



MEMORY GEM. 95 

are the sorrows that spring from false ideas for which no 
man is culpable. — George Eliot 

13. The kind of skill which is required for the con- 
structing, launching, and steering of a polity was lament- 
ably wanting ; for it is a kind of skill to which practice 
contributes more than books. Books are indeed useful 
to the politician, as they are useful to the navigator and 
to the surgeon. But the real navigator is formed on the 
waves; the real surgeon is formed at bedsides; and the 
conflicts of free states are the real school of constitutional 
statesmen — Macaulay. 

14 Coleridge mentions a man who entertained so exalted 
an opinion of himself and of his right to apotheosis, that 
he never uttered that great pronoun I without solemnly 
taking off his hat. — De Quincey. 

15. No book is worth anything which is not worth 
much; nor is it serviceable until it has been read, and re- 
read, and loved, and loved again; and marked, so that you 
can refer to the passages you want in it, as a soldier can 
seize the weapon he needs in an armory, or a housewife 
bring the spice she needs from her store. — Buskin. 



LESSON CLXX. 
MEMORY GEM. 

THE MEN OF LEXINGTON. 

Day came in all the beauty of an early spring. The 
trees were budding ; the grass growing rankly a full month 
before its time, the blue bird and the robin gladdening 



96 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

the genial season, and calling forth the beams of the sun 
which on that morning shone with the warmth of summer; 
but distress and horror gathered over the inhabitants of 
the peaceful town. There on the green lay in death the 
gray-haired and the young; the grassy field was red u with 
the innocent blood of their brethren slain," crying unto 
God for vengeance from the ground. 

Seven of the men of Lexington were killed, nine 
wounded; a quarter part of all who stood in arms on the 
green. These are the village heroes, who were more than 
of noble blood, proving by their spirit that they were of 
a race divine. They gave their lives in testimony to the 
rights of mankind, bequeathing to their country an assur- 
ance of success in the mighty struggle which they began. 
Their names are held in grateful remembrance, and the 
expanding millions of their countrymen renew and multi- 
ply their praise from generation to generation. They 
fulfilled their duty not from the accidental impulse of the 
moment; their action was the slowly ripened fruit of 
Providence and of time. The light that led them on was 
combined of rays from the whole history of the race; 
from the traditions of the Hebrews in the gray of the 
world's morning; from the heroes and sages of republican 
Greece and Borne; from the example of Him who died on 
the cross for the life of humanity; from the religious 
creed which proclaimed the divine presence in man, and 
on this truth, as in a life-boat, floated the liberties of 
nations over the dark flood of the middle ages ; from the 
customs of the Germans transmitted out of their forests 
to the councils of Saxon England ; from the burning faith 



MEMORY GEM. 97 

and courage of Martin Luther ; from trust in the inevita- 
ble universality of God's sovereignty as taught by Paul 
of Tarsus and Augustine, through Calvin and the divines 
of New England; from the avenging fierceness of the 
Puritans, who dashed the mitre on the ruins of the throne ; 
from the bold dissent and creative self-assertion of the 
earliest emigrants to Massachusetts; from the statesmen 
who made, and the philosophers who expounded, the rev- 
olution of England ; from the liberal spirit and analyzing 
inquisitiveness of the eighteenth century ; from the cloud 
of witnesses of all ages to the reality and rightfulness of 
human freedom. All the centuries bowed themselves from 
the recesses of the past to cheer in their sacrifice the 
lowly men who proved themselves worthy of their fore- 
runners, and whose children rise up and call them blessed. 

— Bancroft 

Study this selection critically. Is the long sentence 
in the extract obscure? 



LESSON CLXXI. 

Write complex sentences illustrating the correct use of 
the following words : expect, suspect, historical, histrionic, 
literal, littoral, annual, annular, convince, convict, respect- 
ively, respectfully, respectably, emigrate, immigrate, 
truth, veracity, teach, learn, conceal, disguise. 



LESSON CLXXII. 

Write complex sentences illustrating the correct use of 

7 



98 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

the following words: meritorious, meretricious, definite, 
definitive, negligence, neglect, crime, fault, character, 
reputation, much, many, relatives, relations, eminent, 
imminent, irrelevant, stationery, stationary, principle, 
principal. 

Note. — This lesson and the preceding lesson suggest 
what the teacher should do in this line of study. 



LESSON CLXXIII. 

Write complex sentences, using the following words 
with their proper diacritical marks: adult, gaseous, gal- 
lows, conduit, stratum, soporific, raillery, recess, illustrate, 
discourse, acclimate, water, placard, recluse, vicar, truths, 
sinecure. 

LESSON CLXXIV. 

Write ten complex sentences illustrating each use of 
the objective case by two examples. See Art. VII. 



LESSON CLXXV. 

Study very carefully Art. XIII., 29. 

Write ten sentences each containing a participle used 
as a noun alone; also ten sentences each containing a 
participle used as an adjective alone. 

Models. — The singing of the bird was heard a long 
distance. The singing bird was an object of great 
interest. 



THE PARTICIPLE. 99 

LESSON CLXXVI. 

"Write ten sentences each having the subject modified 
by a present participle used as a verb and an adjective. 

Model. — Standing on the highest part of the mount- 
ain, the spectator viewed the beautiful landscape in the 
distance. 

Note. — Study carefully the principles of punctuation 
applicable to participial phrases and apply them in all the 
work. 

LESSON CLXXVII. 

Write fifteen sentences each containing a noun in the 
objective case modified by a present participle used as a 
verb and adjective. 

Model. — I could see the boy writing a letter. 



LESSON CLXXYIII. 

Write fifteen sentences each having the subject modified 
by a compound participle used as a verb and adjective; 
also containing a relative clause. 

Model. — Having killed the deer that they were pursu- 
ing, the boys returned in a happy frame of mind. 



LESSON CLXXIX. 

Write fifteen complex sentences each containing an 
adverbial clause; also present participle of one of the fol- 
lowing verbs, used as a verb and adjective, modifying 



100 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

either the subject or the object: see, plan, throb, mope, 
mop, hoe, shoe, concur, stir, prefer, stop, infer, lean, scare, 
extol. 

Model. — Preferring to be at home, I left the city as 
soon as the business was transacted. 



LESSON CLXXX. 

Let the following sentences be studied as models. Point 
out all the participles and classify them. Give a reason 
for each mark of punctuation. 

1. With wan, fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling 
breeze, he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing 
wonders ; on its far sails, whitening in the morning light ; 
on its restless waves, rolling shoreward to break and die 
beneath the noonday sun ; on the red clouds of evening, 
arching low to the horizon; on the serene and shining 
pathway pf the stars. — Blaine on Garfield. 

2. Homer seems like his own Jupiter in his terrors, 
shaking Olympus, scattering the lightnings, and firing the 
heavens: Virgil, like the same power in his benevolence, 
counseling with the gods, laying plans for empires, and 
regulating his whole creation. — Pope. 

3. What Virgil wrote in the vigor of his age, in plenty 
and at ease, I have undertaken to translate in my declin- 
ing years; struggling with wants, oppressed with sickness, 
curbed in my genius, liable to be misconstrued in all I 
write. — Dryden. 

4. The Arabians came like a torrent, sweeping down and 
obliterating even the landmarks of former civilization, but 



THE PARTICIPLE. 101 

bringing nevertheless a fertilizing principle, which, as the 
waters receded, gave new life and loveliness to the land- 
scape. — Prescott. 

5. The petted child, taking her newest toy to bed with 
her; the young girl, proud in strength aud beauty, dream- 
ing that life was an easy thing and that it was pitiful 
weakness to be unhappy ; the bride, passing with trembling 
joy from the outer court to the inner sanctuary of woman's 
life; the wife, beginning her initiation into sorrow, 
wounded, resenting, yet still hoping and forgiving ; the 
poor bruised woman, seeking through weary years the one 
refuge of despair, oblivion ; — Janet seemed to herself all 
these in the same moment that she was conscious of being 
seated on the cold stone under the shock of a new misery. 

— George Eliot 

6. Priesthood works out its task, age after age ; now 
smoothing penitent death-beds, consecrating graves / feed- 
ing the hungry, clothing the naked, incarnating the Christ- 
ian precepts, in an age of rapine and homicide, doing 
a thousand deeds of love and charity among the obscure 
and forsaken — deeds of which there shall never be human 
chronicle, but a leaf or two, perhaps, in the recording 
angel's book; hiving precious honey from the few flowers 
of gentle art which bloom upon a howling wilderness ; hold- 
ing up the light of science over a stormy sea; treasuring 
in convents and crypts the few fossils of antique learning 
which become visible, as the extinct megatherium of an 
elder world reappears after the Gothic deluge ; and now, 
careering in helm and hauberk with the ruffians, bandying 
blows in the thickest of the fight, blasting with bell, book, 



102 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

and candle its trembling enemies, while sovereigns, at the 
head of armies, grovel in the dust and offer abject sub- 
mission for the kiss of peace; exercising the same conjury 
over ignorant baron and cowardly hind, making the fiction 
o£ apostolic authority to bind and loose, as prolific in acres 
as the other divine right to have and hold ; thus the force 
of cultivated intellect, wielded by a chosen few and sanc- 
tioned by supernatural authority, becomes as potent as 
the sword. — Motley. 

6. Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these 
broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning 
year, the mighty Aileghanies dimly towering before us, 
the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with 
hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the elo- 
quent silence of God and nature. 

— Everett at Gettysburg. 



LESSON CLXXXI 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a noun in 
the absolute case with a participle. 

Model. — When the boys reached home, they finished 
the work quickly, their companions rendering consider- 
able assistance. 



LESSON CLXXXII. 

Write ten sentences each containing a compound par- 
ticiple, used as an adjective and verb, modified by an 
objective element of the third class. 



THE PARTICIPLE. 103 

Model. — Having learned that the city could be reached 
only with the greatest difficulty, I decided to abandon the 
trip. 



LESSON CLXXXIII. 

Write ten sentences each having the subject modified 
by a perfect passive participle used as an adjective and 
verb. 

llodel. — Completely wearied with her long-continued 
watching, the mother at last fell asleep. 



LESSON CLXXXIV. 

Write ten sentences each containing the perfect passive 

participle of a regular verb modifying the subject. Let 

the sentence also contain the past tense, indicative mode, 
of the same verb. 

Model. — Watched by his anxious friends, the little 
boy watched the caravan passing along the street. 

Note. — Let this exercise be continued until the students 
can distinguish beyond a doubt between the verb and the 
participle. 

In parsing a participle state the verb from which 
derived, give principal parts, classify it, and state its use. 
It has no subject and, therefore, neither person nor 
number. 



104 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CLXXXV. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a present 
participle used as a verb and noun. 

Model. — When I saw the farmer, he was busily 
engaged in planting corn. 



LESSON CLXXXVI. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing a com- 
pound participle used as a noun and verb. 

Model. — We found out that the man's chief fault con- 
sisted in his having overestimated his own ability. 



LESSON CLXXXVII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

We are doomed to suffer a bitter pang as often as the 
irrecoverable flight of our time is brought home with 
keenness to our hearts. The spectacle of a lady floating 
over the sea in a boat, and waking suddenly from sleep to find 
her magnificent ropes of pearl-necklace by some accident 
detached at one end from its fastenings, the loose string 
hanging down into the water, and pearl after pearl slip- 
ping off forever into the abyss, brings before us the sad- 
ness of the case. That particular pearl, which at the 
very moment is rolling off into the unsearchable deeps, 
carries its own separate reproach to the lady's heart. But 
it is more deeply reproachful as the representative of so 
many others, uncounted pearls, that have already been 



THE PARTICIPLE. 105 

swallowed up irrecoverably whilst she was yet asleep, 
and of many beside that nmst follow before any remedy 
can be applied to what we may call this jewelry hemor- 
rhage. A constant hemorrhage of the same kind is wasting 
our jewelry hours. — De Quincey. 

1. Give your estimate of this selection. 

2. If it is beautiful, tell why. 

3. Is the figure well sustained? 

4. Point out the verbs in the progressive form. 

5. Point out the nouns in the absolute case with a 
participle. 

6. Classify the subordinate clauses. 



LESSON CLXXXVIII. 

Write ten sentences each containing a participle, used 
as a verb and noun, modified by an objective element of 
the third class. 

Model. — Miriam's friends had no difficulty in perceiv- 
ing that in one way or another her happiness was very 
seriously compromised. — Haiothorne. 



LESSON CLXXXIX. 

Select from standard writers sentences illustrating all 
the uses of the participles that have been discussed. Let 
the sentences be either simple, complex, or compound. 



106 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CXC. 

Let the following sentences be dictated and copied on 
the blackboard. Insert the proper punctuation maiks, 
and give reasons. Classify all the participles. 

1. The Spartans tormented by ten thousand absurd 
restraints unable to please themselves in the choice of 
their wives their suppers or their company compelled to 
assume a peculiar manner and to talk in a peculiar style 
gloried in their liberty. — Macaulay. 

2. Imprisoned maimed oppressed at home its independ- 
ent converts in Great Britain looked beyond the Atlantic 
for a better world. — Bancroft 

3. Watching and toiling in this way through the night 
they were exceedingly fatigued at the return of day. 

— Irving. 

4. He then returned to his home broken in health and 
deeply dejected considering all the honors and eulogiums 
heaped upon Columbus as so many reproaches on himself. 

— Irving. 

5. The husbandman stripped of his harvest and driven 
from his fields abandoned himself to idleness. 

— Prescott. 

6. Leaning over the stone brim of the basin she heard 
footsteps stealing behind her. — Hawthorne. 

7. The moonshine fell directly behind Miriam illumi- 
nating the palace-front and the whole scene of statues and 
rocks and filling the basin as it were with tremulous 
and palpable light. — Hawthorne. 

8. Groping through the gloom I found my own place 



THE PARTICIPLE. 107 

next to that of the son a learned collegian who had come 
home to keep school during the winter vacation. 

— Haivthorne. 

9. Standing on a level with the lowliest he towered 
conspicuous above the greatest. 

— Tourgee on Lincoln. 

10. My prudence consists in avoiding and going with- 
out not in the inventing of means and methods not in 
adroit steering not in gentle repairing. — Emerson. 



LESSON CXCI. 

Write sentences using as verbs and adjectives the pres- 
ent participles of the verbs to sit, to set, to rise, to raise, 
to lie, to lay; write sentences using the compound par- 
ticiples of the same verbs in the same way. 



LESSON CXCII. 

Abridge the following sentences by changing the sub- 
ordinate clauses to participial phrases: 

1. As soon as the men arrived at home, they resumed 
their work. 

2. When the general had captured the city, he was 
regarded as master of the whole country. 

3. We soon reached a place of safety, because we trav- 
eled all night. 

4. The warriors returned to the village, after they had 
gathered the bodies of the slain and strapped them across 
their pack-horses, 



108 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Change the following to a sentence with one verb: 

5. The captain took his seat unceremoniously, lighted 

his pipe, awaited the cooking of the fish, and intended to 

invite himself to the repast. 



LESSON CXCIII. 

Select from standard writers or compose ten compound 
sentences. Let each sentence contain at least one com- 
plex member, and give examples of all the subordinate 
clauses: seven adverbial clauses, a relative clause, and 
four substantive clauses. 

Model. — During the conflict which fifteen successive 
Parliaments had maintained against four successive 
Kings, the chief weapon of the Commons had been the 
power of the purse; and never had the representatives of 
the people been induced to surrender that weapon without 
having speedy cause to repent of their too credulous loy- 
alty. — Macaulay. 

LESSON CXCIV. 

MEMORY GEM. 

Not to speak of Science, Galileo and Kepler, the six- 
teenth century was a spendthrift of literary genius. An 
attack of immortality in a family might have been looked 
for then as scarlet-fever would be now. Montaigne, 
Tasso, and Cervantes were born within fourteen years of 
each other; and in England, while Spenser was still 
delving over the propria quae mafibus and Baleigh 



I 



ORTHOEPY. 109 

launching paper navies, Shakespeare was stretching his 
baby hands for the moon, and the little Bacon, chewing 
on his coral, had discovered that impenetrability was one 
quality of matter. It almost takes one's breath away to 
think that " Hamlet" and the "Novum Organum" were 
at the risk of teething at the same time. — Lowell. 



LESSON CXCV. 

Write compound sentences containing the following 
words with their proper diacritical marks: decade, diffuse 
(adj.), disaster, romance, sacerdotal, truths, vehement, 
verbose, defalcate, chirography, bellows, bequeath, aspir- 
ant, exemplary, extempore, mercantile, maritime, obliga- 
tory, partridge, servile. 

Note. — This lesson is only suggestive. The teacher 
should give many lessons on this subject by adding to 
this list of words. 



LESSON CXCVL 

See Art. IV., 24. 

Write ten complex sentences each containing the plural 
of some word ending in ih. Let these words have the 
sharp sound of th in both the singular and plural 
number. 

Model. — Although many deaths were reported, this 
was the saddest of all. 



110 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

LESSON CXCYII. 

Write complex sentences containing the plural of words 
ending in fh. Use words in which th has the sharp 
sound in the singular number and the soft sound in the 
plural number. Give the proper diacritical marks. 

Model* — The laths which the man used were very 
durable. 

LESSON CXCVIII. 

Write complex sentences containing the plurals of the 
following nouns: strife, monkey, -|-, man-servant, Miss 
Johnson, Mr. Johnson, General Jackson, corps, focus, 
genus, synopsis, datum, terminus, canto, sarcophagus. 



LESSON CXCIX. 

Write complex sentences, giving two examples each of 
the following: words whose singular and plural are the 
same; words that have no singular; words plural in form 
but singular in meaning; words that have one meaning 
in the singular and another meaning in the plural. 



LESSON CO. 



Note. — The student should give due attention to the 
study of derivatives. A primitive word is one that is not 
derived from any other in the language. A derivative 
word is derived from a primitive by slight changes, gen- 
erally by prefixing or affixing certain letters. Many 



DEEIVATIVES. Ill 

nouns denoting the agent or doer are derived from verbs 
by adding or, er, ster, ar. 

Write complex sentences each containing a noun denot- 
ing an agent derived from the following verbs: do, gov- 
ern, write, create, abet, propel, act, conduct, pun, team, 
narrate, employ, cry, teach, act, beg, di£, drum, buy, 
give, love. 

Note. — Require students to add to this list from words 
observed in reading. 



LESSON COL 
PREFIXES. 



Dis, un and in are often placed before words to give 
them a negative meaning. For euphony dis often be- 
comes di or dif, and in becomes im, ig, il, ir, etc. 

Study the meaning of the following words carefully and 
write sentences containing words with the opposite mean- 
ing: animate, purity, mature, locate, agree, continue, ra- 
tional, mortal, nocent, noxious, wise, accustomed, aware, 
clasp, fit, join, continue, loyal, legal, legitimate, mount, 
sensible, organic. 

Note. — Let the students now observe other prefixes 
and note their force. The study of derivatives is a useful 
exercise. The danger is, however, that students may givo 
too much attention to the pedigree of individual words and 
not enough attention to their use in sentences. Lowell 
well says: "The secret of force in writing lies not so 
much in the pedigree of nouns and adjectives and verbs, 



112 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

as in having something that you believe in to say, and 
making the parts of speech vividly conscious of it." 



LESSON CCII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

In that great social organ, which collectively we call 
literature, there may be distinguished two separate offices 
that may blend and often do so, but capable severally of 
a severe insulation, and naturally fitted for reciprocal 
repulsion. There is, first, the literature of knowledge, and, 
secondly, the literature of power. The function of the 
first is, to teach, the function of the second is, to move: 
the first is a rudder, the second an oar or a sail. The first 
speaks to the mere discursive understanding; the second 
speaks ultimately, it may happen, to the higher under- 
standing or reason, but always through affections of pleas- 
ure and sympathy. Remotely, it may travel towards an 
object seated in what Lord Bacon calls dry light; but 
proximately it does and must operate, else it ceases to be 
a literature of power, on and through that humid light 
which clothes itself* in the mists and glittering iris of 
human passions, desires, and genial emotions. Men have 
so little reflected on the higher functions of literature, as 
to find it a paradox if one should describe it as a mean or 
subordinate purpose of books to give information. But 
this is a paradox only in the sense which makes it honor- 
able to be paradoxical. Whenever we talk in ordinary 
language of seeking information or gaining knowledge, 
we understand the words as connected with something of 






MEMORY GEM. 113 

absolute novelty. But it is the grandeur of all truth which 
can occupy a very high place in human interests, that it is 
never absolutely novel to the meanest of minds: it exists 
eternally by way of germ or latent principle in the lowest 
as in the highest, needing to be developed but never to be 
planted. To be capable of transplantation is the immedi- 
ate criterion of a truth that ranges on a lower scale. 
Besides which, there is a rarer thing than truth, namely, 
power or deep sympathy with truth. What is the effect, 
for instance, upon society, of children? By the pity, by 
the tenderness, and by the peculiar modes of admiration 
which connect themselves with the helplessness, with the 
innocence, and with the simplicity of children, not only 
are the primal affections strengthened and continually 
renewed, but the qualities which are dearest in the sight of 
Heaven — the frailty, for instance, which appeals to for- 
bearance, the innocence which symbolizes the heavenly, 
and the simplicity w T hich is most alien from the worldly^ 
are kept in perpetual remembrance, and their ideals are 
continually refreshed. A purpose of the same nature is 
answered by the higher literature, namely, the literature 
of power. What do you learn from Paradise Lost? 
Nothing at all. What do you learn from a cookery-book? 
Something new, something that you did not know before, 
in every paragraph. But would you therefore put the 
wretched cookery-book on a higher level of estimation 
than the divine poem? What you owe to Milton is not 
any knowledge, of which a million separate items are still 
but a million of advancing steps on the same earthly 

level ; what you owe, ispoiver, that is, exercise and expansion 
8 



114 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



to your own latent capacity of sympathy with the infi- 
nite, where every pulse and each separate influx is a 
step upwards — a step ascending as upon a Jacob's ladder 
from earth to mysterious altitudes above the earth. All 
the steps of knowledge, frojn first to last, carry you fur- 
ther on the same plane, but could never raise you one foot 
above your ancient level of earth; whereas, the very first 
step in power is a flight — is an ascending into another 
element where earth is forgotten. — De Qitincey. 



LESSON CCIII. 



DISCUSSION OF THE SENTENCE. 

Blair gives the following rules for the sentence: 

I. In the course of the same sentence do not shift the 
scene. 

II. Avoid crowding into one sentence heterogeneous 
ideas. 

III. Avoid excess of parenthetical clauses. 

IV. Do not add members after a full and perfect close. 

The following sentence violates these rules: "When 
the Spaniards saw the fireships bearing down upon them, 
every cable was cut, and the fleet drifted out into the 
open sea, and several vessels were lost, and the English 
pursued them, fighting all the time, and, had not the pow- 
der given out, they would have destroyed more than 
sixteen of the Armada which they did destroy." 



DISCUSSION OF THE SENTENCE. 115 

It is better for beginners to write short sentences. The 
inexperienced will often cover two or three pages with 
one sentence and make a dozen statements each of which 
should be in a sentence by itself. It must not be thought 
that a sentence is objectionable simply because it is long. 
If a sentence is complicated, it is objectionable whether 
long or short. It may be long and not complicated 
in the least. 

The following paragraph from Tourgee shows the 
power and beauty of short sentences in certain descriptions : 

" The time of which we write was near the waking from 
a long slumber. The canal which stretches from lake to 
river was still the main avenue of transit eastward and 
westward through the Empire State. Beyond that the 
steamer and stage-coach held sway. The grosser pro- 
ducts of the West consumed themselves before they 
reached the Eastern market. The cattle and swine 
stretched in endless droves across the States lying east- 
ward of the Mississippi. The sustentation of these while 
on the way to the Eastern market enriched the farmers 
along the route more than those who reared and drove. 
Cheese sold at the ports of Lake Erie then at three cents 
a pound. That very year tens of thousands of fat sheep 
were slaughtered in Ohio for the hides and tallow — only 
the hams and tongues being saved for food. The West 
was open ; was known to be full of possibilities. It teemed 
with food, but yet was poor. The' East was at its zenith. 
Every industry was quick. Labor was in abundance and 
yet in demand. Wages were low and so were supplies. 
There were very few centres of population and still fewer 



* 116 ' LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

unoccupied arable regions. Life and labor were evenly 
spread over the whole country. The whole land was a 
bursting hive — a magazine of possibility." 

Dickens begins his " Tale of Two Cities" as follows: 
" It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it 
was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it 
was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, 
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, 
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we 
had every thing before us, we had nothing before us, we 
were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct 
the other way — in shoit, the period was so far like the 
present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted 
on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superla- 
tive degree of comparison only." 

Note. — I have followed the punctuation that Dickens 
gave the paragraph. It would be better if the couplets 
of clauses were separated by semicolons. The sentence 
is long, but is easily comprehended. 

The following from Macaulay's History of England is 
a fine example of a sentence, clear, although long : 

U I shall relate how the new settlement was, during 
many troubled years, successfully defended against for- 
eign and domestic enemies; how, under that settlement, 
the authority of law and the security of property were 
found to be compatible with a liberty of discussion and of 
individual action never before known; how, from the 
auspicious union of order and freedom, sprang a prosper- 
ity of which the annals of human affairs had furnished no 



DISCUSSION OF THE SENTENCE. 117 

example ; how our country, from a state of ignominious 
vassalage, rapidly rose to the place of umpire among 
European powers; how her opulence and her martial glory 
grew together; how, by wise and resolute good faith, was 
gradually established a public credit fruitful of marvels 
which to the statesmen "of any former age would have 
seemed incredible ; how a gigantic commerce gave birth 
to a maritime power, compared with which every other 
maritime power, ancient or modern, sinks into insignifi- 
cance; how Scotland, after ages of enmity, was at length 
united to England, not merely by legal bonds, but by 
indissoluble ties of interest and affection; how, in 
America, the British colonies rapidly became far mightier 
and wealthier than the realms which Cortes and Pizarro 
had added to the dominions of Charles the Fifth; how, in 
Asia, British adventurers founded an empire not less 
splendid and more durable than that of Alexander." 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

1. Does this sentence violate any of the principles 
mentioned ? 

2. Notice how Macaulay distributes his adverbial 
phrases. To avoid an unpleasant succession of phrases he 
places some of them before the verb and some after the 
verb. 

3. Notice how he gives strength to some of his clauses 
by placing a negative modifier first and an affirmative 
modifier last; as, not merely by legal bonds, bid by indis- 
soluble lies of interest and affection; again, not less splen- 
did and more durable. 



118 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

4. An adjective modified by a phrase must follow the 
noun to which it belongs. Point out examples of this. 

5. Point out all the modifiers of the second class. 

6. Point out the subjects that follow their verbs. 

7. Parse the verbs in the passive voice. 

8. Notice that the word power is repeated in one clause 
so that the expression will be perfectly clear. 

9. Point out the copulative verbs in the sentence. 

10. Classify all the participles in the sentence. 

11. Define the following words : compatible, auspicious, 
annals, ignominious, vassalage, umpire, opulence, mari- 
time, enmity, indissoluble. 

12. State the case of realms, and of that in last line. 

13. Give diacritical marks of the following words: 
new, domestic, law, auspicious, martial, resolute, gigantic, 
maritime, legal, indissoluble, Cortes, Pizarro, Asia, 
durable. 

14. Point out all the subordinate clauses and classify 
them. 

15. Classify the adverbial clauses. 

16. State the case of each substantive clause. 

17. State the case of each relative pronoun. 



LESSON CCIV.* 

Require the students to select sentences from standard 
writers. Criticise in accordance with the principles that 
have been discussed. 



DISCUSSION OF THE SENTENCE. 119 

LESSON OCT. 

PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION. 

The following suggestions will generally apply to a 
sentence, a paragraph, or any production of whatever 
length. 

The principal elements of good composition are Clear- 
ness, Purity, Strength, and Elegance. 

CLEABNESS. 

Every sentence should be so clear that the reader must 
understand its meaning. To accomplish this a number 
of principles must be kept in mind. 

1. Words must be properly chosen. Definite is often 
used for definitive, except for accept, human for humane. 
To avoid ambiguity it is generally better to select a word 
with one meaning only than a word that has two distinct 
meanings. 

2. Words, phrases, and clauses must be placed near the 
words they modify. This principle is violated in the fol- 
lowing familiar examples: 

" I saw twenty meteors sitting on my porch the other 
evening," 

" The procession was very fine, and nearly two miles in 
length, as was also the prayer of the chaplain." 

3. Pronouns must be used so that there can be no doubt 
as to their antecedents: 

"Mr. Jones told Mr. Smith that his cattle was in his 
pasture." 

In such cases it is better to use the direct quotation. 



120 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

4. Omit no word that is essential. See third example 
at end of this lesson. 

PUEITY. 

By Purity is meant freedom from grammatical blun- 
ders. The following are the most common errors : 

1. Verbs do not agree with their subjects. 

Homer, as well as Virgil, were transcribed and studied 
on the banks of the Rhine and Danube. 

— Gibbon, quoted by Welsh. 

2. Irregular verbs are used incorrectly. 

3. A verb is left without a subject and a subject with- 
out a verb. 

4. Pronouns are not used with the proper case form. 

STRENGTH. 

1. Discourse is rendered more forcible by conciseness, 
the omission of superfluous words. 

More than this need not be said. Less than this could 
not be said. , — Blaine. 

Many writers would have expanded this statement into 
a lengthy paragraph. 

2. Antithesis, expressions used by way of contrast, 
gives strength to discourse. 

There is, first, the literature of knowledge, and, sec- 
ondly, the literature of power. The function of the first 
is, to teach; the function of the second is, to move: the 
first is a rudder, the second an oar or sail. 

— De Quincey. 

For other examples under 1 and 2 see Art. XXVI. 



DISCUSSION OF THE SENTENCE. 121 

3. Discourse is made more forcible by a proper use of 
Figures of Speech. See Lesson 0CVII1. 

ELEGANCE. 

1. The proper usb of well -balanced sentences adds 
greatly to the beauty of discourse. Example: — There are 
two opposite errors into which those who study the annals 
of our country are in constant danger of falling, the error 
of judging the present by the past, and the error of judg- 
ing the past by the present. The former is the error of 
minds prone to reverence whatever is old, the latter of 
minds readily attracted by whatever is new. The former 
error may perpetually be observed in the reasonings of 
conservative politicians on questions of their own day. 
The latter error perpetually infects the speculations of 
writers of the liberal school when they discuss the trans- 
actions of an earlier age. The former error is the more 
pernicious in a statesman, and the latter in a historian. 

— Macaulay. 

2. Sometimes the beauty of discourse is marred by the 
use of too many phrases. If a number of phrases are 
necessary, distribute them so that the sentence as a 
whole may not appear awkward. 

3. Do not combine words in such a way that unpleas- 
ant sounds may be made prominent. 

EXERCISES. 

Criticise the following sentences with reference to the 
principles discussed: 

1. He died on the day before Christmas, as has been 



122 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

said before, very suddenly, in his bed, early in the morn- 
ing, in the fifty-third year of his life. 

— Anthony Trollope. 

2. She had not yet listened patiently to his heart-beats, 
but only felt that her own was beating violently. 

— George Eliot 

3. The contempt to which the king exposed himself by 
his public conduct was still further heightened by his 
domestic. — Prescott. 

4. Having been addicted from his earliest youth to 
debauchery, when he had lost the powers he retained all 
the relish for the brutish pleasures of a voluptuary. 

— Prescott 

5. There were six of us went into this new establish- 
ment. — Anthony Trollope. 

6. The President of the United States acknowledges 
with profound gratification the receipt of Her Majesty's 
dispatch, and cordially reciprocates the hope that the cable 
which now unites the eastern and western hemispheres 
may serve to strengthen and to perpetuate peace and 
comity between the government of England and the 
republic of the United States. 

— President Johnson to Queen Victoria. 

1. Whom dost thou think it might be ? 

— Hawthorne. 

8. Esmond would have liked to have kissed her. 

— Thackeray. 

9. I intended to have built a hundred churches and to 
have seen all finished in less than a year. — Addison. 



FAULTY SENTENCES. 123 

10. He had expected to have been restored to his power. 

— Hume. 

11. I traveled fifteen hundred miles and preached thirty 
times mostly by stage or private conveyance. 

— Letter of Prominent Preacher. 

12. " On last Sabbath in this holy house a woman fell 
from one of these seats while I was preaching the Gospel 
in a state of beastly intoxication." 

13. " The peaches were in a large basket w T hich we ate." 

14. If any reader of this book wishes to be satisfied 
that Margaret Fuller had her own place and a very high 
place among American prose-writers, they may turn to 
that essay. — Higginson. 

15. A less truthful man than him might have been 
tempted into the subsequent creation of a vision in the 
form of resurgent memory. — George Eliot. 

16. I am a poor, lonely girl, whom God has set here in 
an evil world and given her only a white robe and bid her 
wear it back to him, as white as when she put it on. 

— Haivthorne. 

17. He was one of those precious men within his own 
district whom every body would choose to work for them. 

— George Eliot. 

18. I am glad to hear each sect complain that they do 
not now hold the opinions they are charged with. 

— Emerson. 

19. Set apart for this peculiar duty, their services in 
the sanctuary only tended to prepare them for the sterner 
duties in the field of battle. — Prescott. 



124 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

20. I intended to have signalized my first appearance 
by a certain large statement. — Holmes. 



LESSON CCVI. 

SUGGESTIONS REGARDING COMPOSI- 
TION WORK. 

SELECTING A SUBJECT. 

Success in writing depends largely upon the subject 
chosen. Beginners, as a rule, attempt something too dif- 
ficult and generally they select something of a didactic 
nature. On this point Whipple says: "I have a vivid 
memory of the first time the boys of my class, in a public 
school, were called upon to write 'compositions'. The 
themes selected were the prominent moral virtues or vices. 
How Ave poor innocent urchins were tormented by the task 
imposed upon us! How we put more ink on our hands 
and faces than we shed upon the white paper on our 
desks! Our conclusions generally agreed with those 
announced by the greatest moralists of the world. Soc- 
rates and Plato, Cicero and Seneca, Cudworth and But- 
ler, could not have been more austerely moral than were 
we little rogues, as we relieved the immense exertion 
involved in completing a single short baby-like sentence, 
by shying at one companion a rule, or hurling at another 
a paper pellet intended to light plump on his forehead or 
nose. Our custom was to begin every composition with 



SELECTING A SUBJECT. 125 

the proposition that such or such a virtue ' was one of the 
greatest blessings we enjoy ' ; and this triumph of accurate 
statement was not discovered by our teacher to be purely 
mechanical, until one juvenile thinker, having avarice to 
deal with, declared it to be ' one of the greatest evils we 
enjoy.' " 

Too many essays are of this kind, and they are of no 
value as a mental exercise. 

A Reproduction, in the student's own language, of 
the thought of a poem or a story read by the teacher, is 
an excellent exercise. This must not be regarded as 
original composition work, but as a drill in expressing the 
thoughts that have been given. Young pupils should not 
be allowed to attempt anything more difficult than the 
writing of a day's experience, the narration of some inci- 
dent, the description of something with which they are 
familiar, etc., until they have acquired considerable facil- 
ity in the use of language. The teacher should insist on 
clearness and accuracy of expression. It is a rare thing 
to meet with a young pupil w r ho can write a page and say 
just what he means. 

The teacher should aim to develop the power of expres- 
sion and the power of thought at the same time. As 
students become more mature, let them select subjects that 
they may investigate with profit. Biographical, histori- 
cal, and literary subjects are profitable if students are led 
to reflect upon the facts they collect and express their own 
opinions. To transcribe a few facts, dates, and inci- 
dents in the language of the book almost, is worse than 
useless. 



126 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

INVENTION— COLLECTING THE MATERIAL. 

After the subject has been decided upon, the material 
should be collected. In the case of plain narratives not 
much labor is required on this point except to verify 
statements so as to be accurate. In more labored pro- 
ductions the materia] should be carefully collected and 
thoroughly digested before the work of writing begins. 

In the first place the writer should give the subject 
careful study without any outside help. In the next 
place he should converse with others on the subject, both 
with those opposed to his views and those in sympathy 
with them. In the third place let him read what author- 
ities he can. It is of the greatest importance that he 
consult more than one work. Dr. Thomas Arnold's views 
on this point have often been quoted and are worthy of 
the most careful consideration: "'I call that the best 
theme which shows that the boy has read and thought for 
himself; that the next best which shows that he has read 
several books and digested what he has read; and that 
the worst which shows that he has followed but one book, 
and that without reflection." 

MAKING A PLAN. 

The importance of making a definite plan before begin- 
ning to write can not be over-estimated. A production 
can not be very clear unless the writer has a clear con- 
ception of the points he wishes to make before he 
commences to write. Two productions that have exactly 
the same material may be very different in rank. The 
one may have no definite plan. In the other the points 



COMPOSITION WORK. 127 

may be arranged so logically that the conclusion is irre- 
sistible. Moreover, the ability to analyze a subject and 
to arrange the material in such a manner that one point 
logically follows another and is suggested by it is a far 
more important element in determining the success of an 
extemporaneous speaker than any so-called gift of lan- 
guage. Students should have thorough drill in making 
plans of essays. 

WEITING THE COMPOSITION. 

When the subject has been decided upon and the plan 
arranged, the work is half done. The writer should clothe 
his ideas in the simplest and clearest language. Let the 
following suggestions be heeded: 

1. Consult the dictionary when you have the slightest 
doubt as to spelling or meaning of a word, and often when 
you have no doubt. 

2. Do not hesitate to rewrite a sentence, a paragraph, 
or even the whole essay, if you see where it can be 
improved. 

3. Make your penmanship legible. 

4. Give attention to the use of capitals and marks of 
punctuation. It is a disgrace not to use the simplest of 
them correctly. 

5. Let a new paragraph begin wherever there is a 
slight break in the thought. Do not think that a para- 
graph should be made every ten lines regardless of the 
thought. Each paragraph should begin about an inch 
from the left hand margin of the paper. The other lines 



128 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

should begin about half an inch from the left hand 
margin. 



LESSON CCVII. 

MEMORY GEM. 

HOHENLINDEN. 

1. 

On Linden, when the sun was low, 
All bloodless lay the untrodden snow, 
And dark as winter was the flow 
Of Iser, rolling rapidly. 

2. 

But Linden saw another sight 
When the drum beat, at dead of night, 
Commanding fires of death to light 
The darkness of her scenery. 

3. 

By torch and trumpet fast arrayed, 
Each horseman drew his battle blade, 
And furious every charger neighed 
To join the dreadful revelry. 

4. 

Then shook the hills with thunder riven ; 
Then rushed the steeds to battle driven ; 
And, louder than the bolts of heaven, 
Far flashed the red artillery. 



FIGU11ES OF SPEECH. 129 

5. 

But redder yet those fires shall glow, 
On Linden's hills of crimsoned snow, 
And bloodier yet shall be the flow 
Of Iser, rolling rapidly. 

6. 

'Tis morn; but scarce yon level sun 
Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun, 
Where furious Frank and fiery Hun 
Shout in their sulphurous canopy. 

7. 
The combat deepens. On, ye brave, 
Who rush to glory or the grave! 
Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave, 
And charge with all thy chivalry! 

8. 

Few, few shall part where many meet! 

The snow shall be their winding sheet ; 

And every turf beneath their feet 

Shall be a soldier's sepulchre. 

— Campbell. 



LESSON CCVIIL 

FIGURES OF SPEECH. 

The most common figures of speech are the Simile, 
Metaphor, Hyperbole, Apostrophe, and Climax. 

In a Simile one thing is said to be like another; as, 
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. 
9 



130 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

In a Metaphor the idea of similarity is indicated by 
one word without any statement of comparison; as, The 
military eye is a stack of bayonets. — Emerson, 

Note. — A simile would be: The military eye is like a 
stack of bayonets. 

An Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement; as, The 
negro was so black that charcoal made a chalk mark upon 
him. — Lowell. 

In an Apostrophe something absent is addressed as 
present. 

Thou, dear, noble Elizabeth, around whose ample brow 
as often as thy sweet countenance rises upon the dark- 
ness, I fancy a tiara of light or a gleaming aureola in 
token of thy premature intellectual grandeur, — thou 
whose head for its superb developments was the astonish- 
ment of science, — thou next, but after an interval of 
happy years, thou also wert summoned away from our 
nursery; and the night which, for me, gathered upon that 
event, ran after my steps far into life ; and perhaps at 
this day I resemble little for good or for ill that which 
else I should have been. Pillar of fire that didst go 
before me to guide and to quicken, — pillar of darkness 
when thy countenance was turned away to God, that didst 
too truly shed the shadow of death over my young heart, 
— in what scales should I weigh thee? — De Quincey. 

A Climax is a series of words, phrases, or clauses 
arranged according to their relative importance. The 
word climax means ladder. 

Example. — Cruelty became with him, first a habit, then 
a passion, at last a madness, — Macaiday. 



FIGUKES OF SPEECH. 131 

A writer should be careful to avoid mixed figures. A 
stump orator once said: "I tell you. fellow citizens, the 
politicians are feathering their nests with the foundation 
stones of this government." 

H. A. Wise made use of this figure in the Virginia 
House of Representatives: 

Virginia has an iron chain of mountains running 
through her center, which God has placed there to milk 
the clouds and to be the source of her silver rivers. — 

Quoted by Phelps. 

A number of figures may be used to describe the same 
thing if each figure is complete in itself: 

The pitcher which he was filling at the fountain has 
been broken. The chalice which he was raising to his 
lips has been dashed to the ground. The sickle which he 
was sharpening and brightening to thrust into the world's 
whitening harvest has fallen from his grasp. 

— W. H. Scott 

EXEECISES. 

Study the following figures as models, point out their 
elements of strength and beauty, determine whether they 
are well sustained, and classify them : 

1. Your good resolutions were always like cobwebs, 
and your evil habits like five-inch cables. 

— Hawthorne. 

2. People that make puns are like wanton boys that put 
coppers on the railroad tracks. They amuse themselves 
and other children, but their little trick may upset a 
freight train of conversation for the sake of a battered 
witticism. — Holmes. 



132 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

3. We meet under the gloom of a calamity which dark- 
ens down over the minds of good men in all civil society, 
as the fearful tidings travel over sea, over land, from 
country to country, like the shadow of an uncalculated 
eclipse over the planet. 

— Emerson on death of Lincoln. 

4. We are poor plants buoyed up by the air-vessels of 

our own conceit: alas for us, if we get a few pinches that 

empty us of that windy self-subsistence. 

— George Eliot. 

5. In a moment her fingers were wandering with their 
old sweet method among the keys and her soul was float- 
ing in its true familiar element of delicious sound, as the 
water-plant that lies withered and shrunken on the ground 
expands into freedom and beauty when once more bathed 
in its native flood. — George Eliot 

6. His sun shone as through a tropical tornado; and 
the pale shadow of death eclipsed it at noon! Shrouded 
in such baleful vapors, the genius of Burns was never seen 
in clear azu#e splendor, enlightening the world. But 
some beams from it did, by fits, pierce through; and it 
tinted those clouds with rainbow and orient colors into a 
glory and stern grandeur, which men silently gazed on 
with wonder and tears. — Carlyle. 

7. Tried at a tribunal far more rigid than that where 
the Plebiscita of common civic reputations are pronounced, 
he has seemed to us even there less worthy of blame than 
of pity and wonder. But the world is habitually unjust in 
its judgments of such men; unjust on many grounds, of 
which this one may be stated as the substance: it decides, 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 133 

like a court of law, by dead statutes ; and not positively 
but negatively; less on what is done right than on what is 
or is not done wrong. Not the few inches of reflection 
from the mathematical orbit, which are so easily meas- 
ured, bat the ratio of these to the whole diameter consti- 
tutes the real aberration. This orbit may be a planet's, 
its diameter the breadth of the solar system ; or it may be 
a city hippodrome ; nay, the circle of the ginhorse, its 
diameter a score of feet or paces. But the inches of 
deflection only are measured ; and it is assumed that the 
diameter of the ginhorse and that of the planet will yield 
the same ratio when compared with them. — Ibid. 

8. With our readers in general, with men of right feel- 
ing anywhere, we are not required to plead for Burns. In 
pitying admiration, he lies enshrined in all our hearts, in 
a far nobler mausoleum than that one of marble ; neither 
will his works, even as they are, pass away from the 
memory of man. While the Shakespeares and Miltons roll 
on like mighty rivers through the country of thought, bear- 
ing fleets of traffickers and assiduous pearl-fishers on their 
waves, this little Valclusa Fountain will also arrest our 
eye: for this also is of nature's own and most cunning 
workmanship, bursts from the depths of the earth, with a 
full gushing current, into the light of day ; and often will 
the traveler turn aside to drink of its clear waters and 
muse among its rocks and pines! — Ibid. 

9. Whenever the wandering demon of Drunkenness 
finds a ship adrift, — no steady wind in its sails, no pilot 
directing its course, — he steps on board, takes the helm, 
and steers straight for the maelstrom. — Holmes. 



134 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

10. Miss Brook Dingwall was one of that numerous 
class of young ladies who, like adverbs, may be known by 
their answering to a commonplace question and doing 
nothing else. — Lichens. 

11. Mr. Percy Noakes was a law student, inhabiting a 
set of chambers on the fourth floor in one of those houses 
which command an extensive view of the gardens and 
their usual adjuncts — flaunting nursery-maids and town- 
made children with parenthetical legs. — Dickens. 

12. Certainly fame is like a river that beareth up 
things light and swollen and drowns things weighty and 
solid. — Bacon. 

13. A man who has never been within the tropics 
does not know what a thunderstorm means; a man who 
has never looked on Niagara has but a faint idea of a 
cataract; and he who has not read Berere's Memoirs may 
be said not to know what it is to lie. — Macaulay. 

14. He resembled those creepers w T hich must lean on 
something, and which, as soon as their prop is removed, 
fall down in utter helplessness. He could no more stand 
up, erect and self -supported, in any cause, than the ivy 
can rear itself like the oak, or the wild vine shoot to 
heaven like the cedar of Lebanon. — Ibid. 

15. Inherited qualities move along their several paths 
not unlike the pieces in the game of chess. Sometimes the 
character of the son can be traced directly to that of the 
father or of the mother, as the pawn's move carries him 
from one square to the next. Sometimes a series of dis- 
tinguished fathers follows in a line, or a succession of 
superior mothers, as the black or white bishop sweeps the 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 



135 



board on his own color. Sometimes the distinguished 
characters pass from one sex to the other indifferently, as 
the castle strides over the black and [the] white squares. 
Sometimes an uncle or aunt lives over again in a nephew 
or niece, as if the knight's moves were repeated on the 
squares of human individuality. — Holmes. 

16. Every German regards a sentence in the light of a 
package, and a package not for the mail-coach, but for 
the wagon, into which his privilege is to crowd as much 
as he possibly can. Having framed a sentence, there- 
fore, he next proceeds to pack it, w T hich is effected partly 
by unwieldy tails and codicils, but chiefly by enormous 
parenthetical involutions. All qualifications, limitations, 
exceptions, illustrations are stuffed and violently rammed 
into the bowels of the principal proposition. That all 
this equipage of accessories is not so arranged as to assist 
its own orderly development, no more occurs to a Ger- 
man as a fault, than that in a package of shawls or of 
carpets, the colors and patterns are not fully displayed. 

— De Quincey. 

17. It a little confused me to discern always a ripple 
on his mobile face, responsive to any slightest breeze that 
passed over the inner reservoir of my sentiments, and 
seemed thence to extend to a similar reservoir within 
himself. — Hawthorne concerning Leigh Hunt 

18. The shades in the Athenian character strike the 
eye more rapidly than those in the Lacedaemonian: not 
because they are darker, but because they are on a 
brighter ground. The law of ostracism is an instance of 
this. Nothing can be conceived more odious than the 



136 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

practice of punishing a citizen, simply and professedly 
for his eminence ; and nothing in the institutions of Athens 
is more frequently or more justly censured. Lacedsemon 
was free from this. And why? Lacedsemon did not 
need it. Oligarchy is an ostracism of itself, — an ostra- 
cism not occasional, but permanent, — not dubious, but 
certain. Her laws prevented the development of merit, 
instead of attacking its maturity. They did not cut down 
the plant in its high and palmy state, but cursed the soil 
with eternal sterility. — Macaulay. 



LESSON CCIX. 

Require students to select figures of speech from 
standard writers and copy them in their note books. 

MEMORY GEM. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

It has become the fashion in these later days to look 
upon Lincoln as the accident of an accident rather than 
as the man of the age — the greatest of all who have borne 
the name American. Little souls who came near his great 
life — who viewed his nature as the insect scans the bark 
of the oak along the rugate surface of which he creeps^ 
with a self-satisfied contempt of the rude strength and 
solid core that lies within — have been winning for them- 
selves a sort of immortality and an infinitude of contempt 
by trying to paint the man whose perfections they could 
never apprehend. Our literature has been overrun with 



MEMORY GEM. 137 

a horde of puny drivelers made purblind by the glory of 
a life whose light was so serene and steady that they 
counted it but a reflection of the lurid conflict amid which 
he lived. It was not because one man schemed or another 
paltered that Abraham Lincoln came to the leadership of 
the hosts of freedom. Neither was it through the merit 
of any or all of his advisers that he succeeded in accom- 
plishing the task set before him, but chiefly through his own 
consummate genius and unmatched power. It was not luck 
but intellect that brought him from obscurity to the fore- 
front of the greatest movement in history. The men who 
stood beside him were pigmies in practical power when com- 
pared with him. He was so great that he needed no 
padding, and was careless of his fame. As he came from 
the people so he left himself fearlessly in their hands. It 
has been customary, while admitting his prudence, sagac- 
ity, and self-control, to depreciate his intellectual power. 
The change of position which he effected by a single 
phase, was so easily done and seemed so evident when 
once put forth, that few have stopped to think that the 
intellect of Sumner, the prophetic grasp of Seward, the 
foresight of Chase, and the brain of a thousand others 
who seemed his compeers, had been thitherto utterly 
unable to formulate a common ground of opposition to 
slavery, which should commend itself to the mind and 
conscience of the people. He alone, of all the men of 
that time, had the sagacity to discover the key of the 
position, to unite all the discordant elements in the attack 
upon it, and to hold them up to the conflict until the vic- 
tory was won. By that thought he fused all the discordant 



138 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

elements into one. It was one of those strokes of 
power which mark the highest genius. By this alone he 
would have established his claim to rank as much above 
his associates in intellect as he is admitted to have stood, 
in sagacity, devotion, and self-forgetfulness. Standing on 
a level with the lowliest, he towered conspicuously above 
the greatest. Those who saw the apparent ease with 
which he achieved these results only half realized his 
greatness. Their regard was dissipated by a thousand 
insignificant details. Only the future can properly esti- 
mate the brain that consolidated the opposition to slavery, 
held the nation to the work of putting down rebellion, 
and called his cabinet together only to consider the word- 
ing of a proclamation that was to change the status of a 
race forever. He bestrode our land like a Colossus, all 
unconscious of his own power, frankly esteeming others 
at their just value — incapable of detraction or envy, and 
trusting his fame, with a magnificent unconcern as to the 
result, to the future. Pure, simple, unassuming, kindly, 
touched with sadness and relieved with mirth, but never 
stained with falsehood or treachery, or any hint of shame- 
ful act, his heart as tender as his life was grand ; a little 
child in simplicity, a saint in purity, a king in power. 
Child of the sadly smitten South; nursling of the favored 
North; giant of the great West — his life was the richest 
fruitage of the liberty he loved! His name is the top- 
most which a continent has given unto fame ! 

— Albion W. Tour gee. 



THE NOUN. 139 



GRAMMAR. 



AKTICLE I. 

THE NOUN. 

1. A Xonn is a name; as, boy, book, 

2. A Proper Noun is the name of a particular per- 
son, place, event, etc. ; as, Hamilton, London, The 
Reformation. 

3. All other nouns are called Common Nouns. A 
Common Noun is a name that belongs to any one of a 
class of objects. 

Common nouns are divided into a number of classes. 

4. An Abstract Noun is a common noun that 
expresses a quality ; as, truth, sweetness . 

5. A Verbal Noun is a common noun derived from 
a verb; as, rising, setting. 

6. A Collective Noun is a common noun plural in 
meaning, but singular in form ; as, herd, assembly. 



ARTICLE II. 

PROPERTIES OF NOUNS. 

1 Nouns have four properties: Person, Gender, 
Number, and Case. 



140 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

' PERSON. 

2. Person is the property of a noun or pronoun 
which indicates whether a person is speaking, spoken to, 
or spoken of. 

3. The First Person denotes the one speaking; as, 
I, John, saw the beautiful city. 

In this sentence the pronoun I and the noun John are 
each in the first person. 

4. The Second Person denotes the person addressed ; 
as, John, the man desires to see you. 

5. The Third Person denotes the person or thing 
spoken of; as, John has finished his work. 



AETICLE III. 

GENDER. 

1. Gender is the property of a noun or pronoun that 
denotes sex. There are three genders : Masculine, 
Feminine, and Neuter. 

2. The Masculine Crender denotes males ; as, man, 
father. 

8. The Feminine Gender denotes females; as, 
mother, cow. 

4. The Neuter Gender denotes neither males nor 
females ; as, gun, tree, house. 

Note. — When the gender of a noun can not be deter- 
mined, some grammarians say that it is in the common 
gender; as, parent, child, bird. 



GENDER. 141 

5. The masculine and feminine genders are distin- 
guished in three ways : 

1st. By different ivords. 
2d. By different endings. 
3d. By prefixes and suffixes. 

1st. Under the first head we have: father, mother; son, 
daughter; man, woman; uncle, aunt; Mr., Mrs.; male, 
female; gentleman, lady; nephew, niece; bachelor, maid; 
bridegroom, bride ; cock, hen ; drake, duck ; earl, countess ; 
buck, doe; hart, roe; sir, madam; gander, goose, etc. 

2d. In the second class are: host, hostess; actor, act- 
ress; baron, baroness; poet, poetess; author, authoress; 
negro, negress; emperor, empress; murderer, murderess. 

3d. In the third class are: man-servant, maid-servant; 
he-bear, she-bear; Mr. Jones, Mrs. Jones; peacock, pea- 
hen. 

Note. — It is a violation of good taste to use the dis- 
tinctive feminine forms of nouns exclusively with reference 
to females. The feminine form is necessarv in some 
titles, and is often better in indicating one's work in gen- 
eral; but the masculine form is preferred when it is used 
to indicate the agent or doer of some particular work. It 
is correct to say: Mrs. Browning is an authoress of con- 
siderable distinction and is the author of Aurora Leigh. 
The use of the titles professoress, doctoress, etc., should 
be discouraged. 

Note 2. — A pronoun referring to a singular noun that 
denotes both sexes should be in the masculine gender ; as, 
Every student must prepare his lesson before coming 



142 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

to the class. It is not in good taste to say his or her 
lesson. 

If it is known that the noun denotes females only, the 
feminine form of the pronoun should be used. 



AETIOLE IV. 

NUMBER. 

1. ST umber is that property of the noun or pronoun 
which denotes one or more than one. 

2. There are two numbers: Singular and Plural. 

3. The Singular Number denotes but one; as, 
book. 

4. The Plural Number denotes more than one ; as, 
books. 

5. The most common way of forming the plural of 
nouns is by adding s to the singular ; as, girl, girls ; dog, 
dogs. 

6. The plural is formed by adding es to the singular, 
when the last sound of the word will not unite with s; as, 
church, churches ; fox, foxes. 

7. The following nouns ending in / and fe form their 
plurals by dropping those endings and adding ves : beef, 
calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, wife, 
and wolf. The plural of staff is staves and staffs. Con- 
sult the dictionary for difference of meaning in the plural. 
The plural of wharf is wharfs and wharves. The latter 



NUMBER. 143 

form is more common in the United States ; the former in 
England. 

The plurals of hoof and turf were formerly hooves and 
turves ; now they are hoofs and turfs. 

Other nouns ending in / or fe form their plurals by 
adding s; as, chief, chiefs; strife, strifes. 

8. Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant drop 
the y and add ies to form the plural; as, lady, ladies; 
study, studies. 

Note. — Notice that, if the y is preceded by a vowel, the 
plural is formed by adding s; as, valley, valleys; money, 
moneys. 

9. The plural of a letter or figure is formed by adding 
's; as, Cross your fs; Write three 5's. 

10. In compound words the essential part is pluralized ; 
as, son-in-law, sons-in-law; baby-cart, baby-carts. 

Note. — It is evident that the words son and cart are 
the essential parts of the above words and that the rest 
are simply descriptive. 

11. In a few compound words both parts are pluralized ; 
as, man-servant, men-servants. 

12. In the case of proper nouns it is customary to plu- 
ralize either the title or the name, but not both ; as, the 
Miss Johnsons, or the Misses Johnson. The former 
expression is preferred. George Eliot wrote: The Miss 
Linnets were old maids. - — Scenes in Clerical Life. 

13. In pluralizing proper names it is better to add s 



144 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

simply so that the original form of the word may appear ; 
as, the Marys, the Henrys, the Tullys, the Carys, the 
Storys. There is authority, however, for the word 
Maries. 

14. When a numeral precedes a title and a proper 
name, the latter only should be pluralized; as, the two 
General Jacksons. 

15. A few nouns form their plurals irregularly ; as, man, 
men; woman, women; child, children; mouse, mice; ox, 
oxen; foot, feet; goose, geese; tooth, teeth, etc. 

16. Some nouns have the same form for both numbers ; 
as, sheep, deer, s\Hne, series, corps,* bellows, amends, 
gross, grouse, pains, means, odds. 

17. A few nouns have the same form in both singular 
and plural when preceded by a numeral ; in other cases 
they add s to form the plural; couple, dozen, pair, score, 
yoke, hundred, thousand. 

18. Some nouns have no singular: ashes, measles, 
shears, scissors, tongs, trowsers, 'mumps, thanks, tidings, 
victuals, hose (stockings). 

19. Some nouns in the plural have a singular form 
with a different meaning: goods, letters, manners, remains, 
spectacles, grounds, greens. 

20. These nouns are plural in form, but singular in 
meaning: molasses, news, politics, acoustics, mathe- 
matics, and other names of sciences ending in ics. 

21. A number of nouns introduced into our language 

* Consult your dictionary as to the pronunciation of this word in 
the two numbers. 



NUMBER. 



145 



from foreign tongues without change, form their plurals 
in accordance with the rules of those languages. The 
following are some of the changes in the Latin and the 
Greek: us to i or era; um and on to a; a to ae; is to es or 
ides; x to ces or ices. 



FAMILIAR EXAMPLES. 



formula, 


formulae, 


radius, 


radii, 


stimulus, 


stimuli, 


alumnus, 


alumni 


alumna, 


alumnae, 


focus, 


foci, 


crisis, 


crises, 


datum, 


daf? , 


genus, 


genera, 


synopsis, 


synopses 



parenthesis, parentheses, 

Note. — Some of the above nouns have the ordinary 
English plurals as well as the foreign plurals. The stu- 
dent should consult the dictionary if he has any doubt as 
to the correct form. 

22. Some nouns have two plurals differing in meaning: 
brother, brothers (of same family), brethren (of same 
society), die, dies (for coining), dice (for gaming), 
genius, geniuses (men of genius), genii (spirits), index, 
indexes (tables of contents), indices (signs in algebra). 

23. Abstract nouns and names of materials are not 
usually pluralized; as, tin, lead, honesty, etc. 

When different kinds of the same substance are referred 
to, the word may be pluralized; as, the tins, the leads, 
the teas, the cottons. 

24. Nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant regu- 
larly form the plural by adding es to the singular; as, 
negro, negroes; potato, potatoes. 

10 



146 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



There are many exceptions to this rule. The follow- 
ing add s to the singular : 



albino, 
canto, 


lasso, 
limbo, 


salvo, 
sirocco, 


cento, 
domino, 


memento, 
octavo, 


solo, 
stiletto, 


duodecimo, 
fresco, 
halo, 
junto, 


piano, 
proviso, 
quarto, 
rotundo, 


torso, It pi. torsi, 

two, 

tyro. 



There is some authority for including grotto and por- 
tico in this list. Domino has also the plural dominoes. 

If the o is preceded by a vowel, the plural is formed by 
adding s; as, trios, folios, etc. 

Note. — Notice that when a noun ends with the sound 
of p, t, k, f, or with the sharp sound of th (unmarked), 
the s forming the plural has the sharp (unmarked) 
sound; as, cats, caps, breaths, etc. 

If the noun ends with a vowel sound, or the sound of 
b, d, hard sound of g, m, n, ng, 1, r, v, or the flat or vocal 
sound of th, the s forming the plural has the soft or vocal 
sound (z) ; as, dogs, lathes. 

• In the following seven words th has the sharp sound in 
the singular number and the flat or vocal sound in the 
plural number: bath, cloth, loth, mouth, oath, path, and 
wreath. 

There is no authority for giving the vocal sound to the 
plural of truth, 



NOMINATIVE CASE. 147 

ABTICLE V. 

CASE. 

1. Case is that property of a noun or pronoun that 
indicates its relation to other words. 

2. There are f oar cases: Nominative, Possessive, 
Objective, and Absolute. 

3. The Nominative Case has four uses: 

1. As the Subject of a sentence. 

2. As the Predicate of a sentence. 

3. In Apposition with the subject. 

4. In Apposition with the predicate. 

4. A noun or pronoun can be the predicate of a sentence 
after a copulative verb only. See Art. XIII. , 27. 

5. A noun or pronoun that explains the meaning of 
another noun or pronoun is in the same case with it by 
Apposition. 

Note. — Let the student distinguish clearly between a 
noun as the predicate and a noun in apposition with the sub- 
ject. A noun in apposition with another means the same 
person or thing. It does not follow, however, that a noun 
meaning the same person or thing as another is in appo- 
sition with it. 

6. The following sentences illustrate the four uses of 
the Nominative Case in the order named above: 

1. John was a good boy. 

2. The boy was called John. 

3. The boy John was an interesting character. 

4. The student was the boy John. 



148 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

ARTICLE VI. 

POSSESSIVE CASE. 

1. The Possessive Case denotes the owner, author, 
or origin. It does not always denote rea] possession. 

2. In the singular number the Possessive Case is 
formed by adding 's to the nominative form of the noun; 
as, the boy's book; the girl's slate; the marts house. 

3. When a noun in the singular number ends in s, 
most authorities insist that the 's must still be added; as, 
James's books, Howells's novels, Burns's poems. A few 
years ago the forms -given above were used invariably. 
Now the tendency is to leave off the last s. There is good 
authority for the following expressions: Henry James' 
Works, General Thomas' Army, Barnes' Educational 
Monthly. These forms should be preferred to the others. 

4. A few proper nouns having two or more sounds of s 
have never added the s in forming the possessive; as, 
Moses' law, Jesus' feet. 

5. For conscience' sake,f or experience' sake,f or goodness' 
sake are well authorized. In the first two expressions the s 
is omitted to avoid so many s-sounds, the following word 
beginning with an s. 

6. If a word in the plural number does not end in s, 
the possessive is formed like the singular; as, inert s hats, 
children's dresses. 

If the plural ends in s, form the possessive by adding 
the apostrophe ; as, boys' hats, horses' feet. 

7. When a noun in the possessive case is limited by 
some other noun that follows it, the sign of possession is 



POSSESSIVE CASE. 149 

placed after the noun preceding the thing possessed ; as, 
Princess Anne of Denmark's son. — Thackeray, 

8. When two nouns are in the possessive case and 
denote joint possession, the sign should be annexed to 
the last only ; as, Ferdinand and Isabella 's reign did much 
to improve the condition of Spain. 

9. When two nouns are in the possessive case and do 
not denote joint possession, the sign should be attached 
to each ; as, John's and Janets books. 

10. The apostrophe should never be used in forming the 
possessive case of pronouns. Such expressions as, her's, 
your's, their' s, etc., are incorrect. 

A few quotations from early English will show that es 
or s was once the sign of the possessive case. Mandeville, 
who lived from 1300 to 1371, in describing the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre, wrote : 

" In the place of that morteys was Adames hed found 
after Noes flode." 

Chaucer, who lived from about 1328 to 1400, wrote: 

"His lordes scheep, his neet, and his dayerie, 
His swyn, his hors, his stoor and his pultrie, 
Was holly in this reeves governynge." 

Sir Thomas More, who lived from 1489 to 1535, wrote 
of Eichard III. : 

" Friend and foo was muche what indifferent, where 
his advantage grew; he spared no mans death whose life 
withstood his purpose." In the same history he wrote: 
"Whyle Kyng Rychardes menne turned back, having an 
eye towardes them, Thomas Brandon, with thirty valeaunt 



150 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

menne of the other syde, gatte over a water into the cas- 
tel, to strength them that were within." 

The expressions — "Henryes banner" and "Henries 
banner" occur. 

Spenser (1553—1599) wrote: 

" One day, nigh wearie of the yrkesome way, 
From her unhastie beast she did alight, 
And on the grasse her dainty limbs did lay 
In secrete shadow, far from all mens sight." 

The apostrophe was also used at this time. 

Milton (1608 — 1674) wrote in the Areopagitica : "As 
good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book ; who kills a 
man kills a reasonable creature, Gods image ; but hee who 
destroys a good Booke, kills reason it selfe, kills the 
Image of God as it were in the eye." 



AETIOLE VII. 

THE OBJECTIVE CASE. 

1. The Objective Case denotes the object. 

2. There are four regular uses of the Objective 
Case: 

1. The Object of a transitive verb in the active voice. 

2. The Object of a preposition. 

3. Nouns denoting length of time, space, distance, 
etc., in the Objective Case without a governing icord. 

4. In the objective case in Apposition with some 
noun in the objective case. 



ABSOLUTE CASE. 151 

Examples in the order named above: 

1. The girl wrote the letter. 

2. The boy rode on the horse. 

3. The man walked ten miles. 

4. I saw James A. Garfield, an orator of great power. 

3. A few verbs — to call, to name, to elect, etc. — admit 
two objects without a connective; as, They elected John 
president The second object is often called a predicate 
objective. When the verb is changed to the passive 
voice, the first object becomes the subject and the second 
object the predicate; as, John was elected president. 

4. An adjective having the idea of knowing, thinking, 
believing, etc., may admit an object: as, I am confident 
that he has gone. I am positive that the work has been 
accomplished. 

5. Occasionally a verb in the passive voice admits an 
object; as, I was asked a question. 

6. The subject of an infinitive is in the objective case; 
as, I wish him to go. 

AETICLE VIII. 

THE ABSOLUTE CASE. 

1. A noun is in the Absolute Case when it is absolved 
from the rest of the sentence. This case is also called the 
Independent Case and the Nominative Independent. 

2. There are three uses of the Absolute Case: 

1. By Direct Address ; as, John, come to me. 

2. By Exclamation ; as, Our fathers, where are they ? 

3. With a Participle ; as. Esmond returned to Castle, 
wood, his Latin poem having gained him a prize. 



152 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

AKTICLE IX. 

DECLENSION. 

1. The Declension of a noun is its change of form 
to represent its case and number. 





Singular. 


Plural. 


Singular. 


Plural. 


Nom. 


boy, 


boys, 


lady, 


ladies. 


Poss. 


boy's, 


boys', 


lady's, 


ladies' 


Obj. 


boy, 


boys, 


lady, 


ladies, 


Abs. 


boy, 


boys, 


lady, 
X. 


ladies. 




ARTICLE 





THE PRONOUN. 

1. A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. 
The word for which the pronoun stands is called its 
Antecedent. The antecedent maybe a noun, pronoun, 
clause, etc. 

2. Pronouns have the same properties as nouns: Per- 
son, (lender, Number, and Case. 

3. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in per- 
son, gender, and number. The case depends upon its 
relation to other words. 

4. There are three kinds of pronouns: Personal, 
Relative, and Interrogative. 

5. Personal Pronouns have different forms to 
represent the different persons; as, I, you, he. 

G. Personal Pronouns are divided into two classes: 
Simple and Compound. The Simple Personal Pro- 
nouns are single words. The Compound Personal 






PERSONAL PRONOUN. 



153 



Pronouns are the simple pronouns compounded with 
the word self or selves. 



DECLENSION. 
7. Simple Personal Pronouns. 



Nom. 
Poss. 
Obj. 



FIRST PERSON. 
Singular. 

i, 

my or mine, 
me, 



Plural, 
we, 

our or ours, 
us. 



Nom. 
Poss. 

Obj. 



SECOND PERSON. 

Singular. ■ 
VOU, 

your or yours, 
you, 



Nom. 
Poss. 

Obj. 



Plural. 

y°u, 

your. or yours, 
you. 



Nom. 
Poss. 

Obj. 



SECOND PERSON, ANCIENT FORM. 

Plural. 
Nom. ye, 

Poss. your or yours, 

Obj. you. 



Singular, 
thou, 

thy or thine, 
thee, 



THIRD PERSON. 



Singular 





Mai. 


Fern. Neut. 




Nom. 


he, 


she, it, 


Nom 


Poss. 


his, 


her or hers, its, 


Poss. 


Obj. 


him, 


her, it, 


Obj. 



Plural. 

All Genders. 

they, 

their or theirs, 

them. 



8. The Compound Personal Pronoun has only 
two cases, Nominative and Objective, and these are the 
same in form. 



154 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 





FIRST PERSON. 




Norn, and Obj. 


Singular, 
myself, 

SECOND PERSON. 


Plural, 
ourselves. 


Nom. and Obj. 
Ancient form, 


Singular. 

yourself, 

thyself, 

THIRD PERSON. 


Plural, 
yourselves. 




Singular, 
himself, 


Plural. 


Nom, and Obj. 


herself, 
itself, 


themselves. 



The compound personal pronoun has two distinct uses. 
In the first place it is used for emphasis ; as, The man did 
it himself. In this sentence -the word himself makes the 
word man more emphatic and is in apposition with it. 

In the second place the compound personal pronoun 
has a reflexive use, i. e., it is used when the subject and 
object mean the same, person or thing; as, The man hurt 
himself 

How many persons are referred to in this sentence, — 
The man hurt him ? 

9. The pronoun {/ is frequently used without any par- 
ticular antecedent; as, It rains, It snows. Sometimes it is 
used to introduce a sentence and its antecedent is a clause 
in the sentence; as, It is too bad that he should die. 

10. It is customary for writers to use the "editorial" 
we instead of I. In general it is better to use the singu- 
lar of the pronoun in the first person if one only is meant. 



PERSONAL PRONOUN. 



155 



If one does not wish to make himself so prominent appar- 
ently, he can use the third ^person and speak of himself 
as "the writer." 

Sometimes a writer uses the word ive in such a con- 
nection that the plural is absurd and he may then make 
the expression doubly absurd by adding the monstrosity 
onrself; as, We ate the berry ourself. 

Good writers do not use this word 1 which is half plural 
and half singular. 

11. When the gender of an antecedent is indetermi- 
nate, custom requires that the pronoun shall be in the 
masculine gender ; as, Every passenger should procure his 
ticket before entering the car : not his or her ticket. 

12. When pronouns of different persons are used in 
the same sentence, the second person should precede the 
first in order, and the third the first; 

as, You and I will go. 
He and I will go. 
You, and he, and I will go. 

13. When the antecedents are of different persons, the 
pronoun should agree with the one in the second person 
rather than the third, and with the first person rather 
than either of the others ; as, 

You and John will go to your homes. 
You, and John, and I will go to our homes. 

14. When a pronoun has two or more antecedents in 
the singular connected by and, it should be plural. If, 
however, the antecedents are preceded by each, every, or 
no, or distinguished particularly in some other way, the 
pronoun should be singular; as, The boy and the girl 



156 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

should study their lessons; Every tree and every shrub 
was deprived of its foliage. 

15. When the two nouns mean the same person or thing, 
the pronoun should be singular; as, The kind husband and 
the indulgent father has gone to his reward. 

16. When two singular ant ^cedents are connected by 
or, or nor, the pronoun should be singular. 



AKTICLE XI. 

THE RELATIVE PKONOUN. 

1. A Relative Pronoun joins a subordinate clause 
to its antecedent. 

2. There are two kinds of Relative Pronouns; Sim- 
ple and Compound. 

3. The Simple Relatives are who, which, that, and 
sometimes as. 

4. Declension. — 

Sing, and Plural. Sing, and Plural. Sing, and Plural. 
Nom. who, which, that, 

Poss whose, whose, whose, 

Obj. whom, which, that. 

5. As is indeclinable. 

6. Who is used for persons ; as, This is the man who 
was killed. 

7. Which is used to represent things without life, ani- 
mals, and sometimes children; as, This is the animal 
which was killed. 

Note. — In early English which is often used for per- 
sons. 



RELATIVE PRONOUN, 157 

8. That is used to represent either persons or things. 
It is better to use that as the relative, (a) when who or 
which already occurs in the sentence, (b) after an adjec- 
tive in the superlative degree, (c) after all, very, and 
same. 

9. As is considered as a relative after such, many, and 
same; as, He is such a man as I described. It is inde- 
clinable, and can be in the nominative or objective case 
only. 

10. A relative pronoun is often omitted; as, This is the 
man I saw. 

11. In the older forms of English the antecedent of a 
relative is often omitted; as, Who steals my purse, steals 
trash. 

12. Sometimes the word which is joined with a noun, 
and has simply the force of an adjective; as, He hurt his 
friend accidentally, which thing caused him great morti- 
fication. In this sentence which is equivalent to and this. 
In most cases it is better to omit the noun, and the word 
which will have its full force as a relative. 

13. Notice the different uses of the word that 

1. That boy has gone. — Adjective. 

2. That is the tallest tree.— Noun. 

3. I know that he did it. — Conjunction. 

4. This is the person that did it. — Relative Pronoun. 

14. The so-called adverbs, when, where, whence, whither, 
wherewith, whereby, wherein, etc., when they introduce 
clauses that modify nouns, are equivalent to relative 
pronouns with prepositions and should be called Rela- 
tive Adverbs. 



158 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

EXAMPLES. 

j This is the house where he lives. \ 
} This is the house in which he lives. [ 

j This is the particular wherein he failed. ) 
\ This is the particular in which he failed. J 

Note. — It is plain that where and ivherein in the above 
sentences are equivalent to in which, and that the clauses 
introduced by them are relative modifying house and 
particular. 

15. Notice the following simple truths: 

1. A Relative Pronoun is always found in a subordinate 
clause, and, therefore, never stands in a simple sentence. 

2. A Relative Pronoun can not stand in the same clause 
with its antecedent. 

3. A Relative Pronoun and its antecedent can never be 
governed by the same word. 

4. A Relative Clause always modifies the antecedent of 
the relative. 

A Compound Relative Pronoun is a relative 
which includes the antecedent and pronoun part in one 
word. They are what, whoever, whosoever, whichever, 
whichsoever, whatever, whatsoever. 

Whoso was used in early English, but its use is now 
poetical. Whosoever is now giving way to the simpler 
word whoever. 

Whosoever is declined as follows: 

SINGULAR AND PLURAL. 

Norn, whosoever, 

Poss. whosesoever, 

Obj. whomsoever. 



COMPOUND RELATIVE. 159 

What is equivalent to that which; as, I saw what you 
wanted: I saw that which you wanted. That should be 
parsed as any noun and which as an ordinary relative. 

Whoever and whosoever are equivalent to he who, or 
any one who; as, 

Whoever labors will succeed. 
Any one who labors will succeed. 
Whichever is equivalent to any which; as, 
You may take whichever book you desire. 
You may take any book which you desire. 
Whatever is equivalent to any thing which; as, I am 
pleased with whatever you do. 

I am pleased with any thing which you do. 

Some grammarians do not separate a compound relative 
into its parts, but simply give it two cases. In the last 
example above they would say that whatever is the object 
of with and also do. 

I will address whomsoever I happen to see. 

In this sentence whomsoever may be considered the 
object of address and also see; or (any) one the object of 
address and ivhom the object of see. 

Occasionally a compound relative is in the nominative 
case and objective case at the same time. In this case 
the nominative form should be used; as, I will address 
whoever happens to be present. 

Whenever and toherever should often be considered as 
Compound Relative Adverbs. 

You may go whenever you please. 

Whenever is equivalent to at any time at which. See 14. 



160 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

AETICLE XII. 

THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN. 

1. Who, which, and what are interrogative pronouns 
when used in asking questions. 

Examples. — Who bought the book? 
Which did you see? 
What do you want? 

2. Who and which are declined like the relative pro- 
nouns ivho and which. See Art. XL, 5. 

3. Which and what as interrogative pronouns have two 
distinct uses, substantive and adjective. They are sub- 
stantive when they are governed as ordinary pronouns. 
See examples above. They are adjective when they 
modify some noun but do not have case. 

Examples. — What man did you see? 

Which book is most interesting? With this use they 
are often called adjective pronouns. 

The interrogative pronoun is often used in implied 

questions, called also indirect questions; as, 

I do not know who did it. 

I do not know which book he will take. 

He found out who the criminal was. 



AETICLE XIII. 

THE VERB. 

1. A Verb is a word that expresses action or existence; 

or is used to assert something of the subject. 

Examples — The winds blow. 

The man seems honest. 



THE VERB. 161 

2. Verbs are transitive, intransitive, and copulative with 
r es®ect to their use. 

- * 8, A Transitive Verb requires an object to com- 
plete its meaning ; as, Washington loved his country. 

An Intransitive Verb does not take an object; as, 
Washington lived in the country. 

For the Copulative Verb see 27. 

4. The properties of verbs are voice, mode, tense, per- 
son, and number. 

* 5. Voice belongs to transitive verbs. If the subject 
acts, the verb is in the active voice ; as, The man killed the 
wolf. 

If the action is exerted upon the subject, the verb is in 

the passive voice ; as, The wolf was killed by the man. 

6. Mode denotes the manner in which an assertion is 
made. There are four modes: Indicative, Potential, Im- 
perative, and Infinitive. 

7. The Indicative Mode is generally used to express 
a fact; as, The soldiers fought heroically. 

8. The Potential Mode denotes the power, possibil- 
ity, and necessity of an action or state of being, etc. ; as, 
The man would succeed, if he would put forth every effort. 

9. The Imperative Mode is used to express a com- 
mand, an exhortation, or entreaty: as, John, come to me. 

10. * The Infinitive Mode expresses a general or 
indefinite action or state of being. The sign of the 
infinitive is generally the word to; as, The boy wished to go. 

The sign is omitted after the verbs bid, hear, help, let, 
make, see, and a few others. 
11 



162 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

11. All verbs not in the infinitive mode are called finite 
verbs and must have subjects in the nominative case. 

12. The Subjunctive Mode has so nearly disappeared 
from modern English that it deserves no special mention. 
Most writers now say: If it rains instead of if it rain. The 
verb to be in the present tense still retains possibly the 
subjunctive form. If it be possible is a common expres- 
sion. It would be just as correct to use is for be. If I 
were you is also a common expression. Were was for- 
merly considered as a form of the present subjunctive. 
Some now consider it the potential mode. 

13. Tense is a property of a verb that expresses the 
distinction of time. 

There are three main divisions of time, — present, 
past, and future. 

TENSE SIGNS. 

14. The Indicative Mode has six tenses. 
Present. — Simple form of verb. The third person, 

singular, must end in s. 

Past. — Add ed to simple form of verb, if regular. If 
irregular, the past tense must be memorized. 

Futnre. — Prefix shall or will to simple form of the 
verb. 

Present Perfect. — Prefix have to the perfect 
participle. In the third person singular has must be pre- 
fixed instead of have. 

Past Perfect. — Prefix had to the perfect participle. 

Fntnre Perfect. — Prefix shall have or will have to 
the perfect participle. 



THE VEUB. 163 

The three perfect tenses express completed action ; the 
present perfect with reference to the present, the past per- 
fect with reference to some other past time, the future 
perfect with reference to some future time. The present 
tense expresses present time and is also used for general 
statements. It is used to describe past events vividly. 

15. The Potential Mode has four tenses. 
Present or Future. — Prefix can to simple form of 

verb. 

Past. — Prefix could to simple form of verb. 

Present Perfect. — Prefix can have to perfect partici- 
ple. 

Past Perfect. — Prefix could have to perfect 
participle. 

Note . — May and must used also in same tense as can. 
Should, might, and ivould used same as could. 

The auxiliaries could, might, ivould, and should indicate 
present or future time as well as past time. 

16. The Imperative Mode has one tense, the 
present. 

It is the simple form of the verb. Sometimes do is 
prefixed to the simple form to make it emphatic. 

17. The Infinitive Mode has two tenses: 
Present. — -Prefix to to the simple form of the verb. 
Present Perfect. — Prefix to have to the perfect 

participle. 

The present infinitive should be used after verbs and 
nouns expressing intention, expectation, hope, command, 
and other words that refer to the future. 

This sentence is not correct: — I meant to have written 
to you yesterday. — Lettev of Hawthorne, 



164 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

18. The Principal Parts of a verb are those from 
which all the other parts are derived. They are the pres- 
ent indicative, past indicative, and perfect participle, 

A Regular Verb is one that forms its past indicative 
and perfect participle by adding ed to the simple form of 
the verb. 

An Irregular Verb does not form its past indicative 
and perfect participle by adding ed to the simple form. 

19. The Conjugation of a verb is the arrangement 
of all its voices, modes, tenses, persons, and numbers in 
regular order. 

The Synopsis of a verb is the arrangement of its 
different forms in one person and number. 

20. Conjugation of the verb to be. 





PRINCIPAL PARTS. 


Pres. Ind. 
am, or be, 


Past Ind. Perf. Part. 
was, been. 


INDICATIVE MODE. 




PRESENT TENSE. 


Singular. 

1. I am, 

2. You are, 

3. He is, 


Plural. 

1. We are, 

2. You are, 

3. They are. 




PAST TENSE. 


1. I was, 

2. You were 

3. He was, 


1. We were, 
, 2. You were, 
3. They were. 



CONJUGATION OF VERB TO BE. 165 

FUTURE TENSE. 

1. I shall be, 1. We shall be, 

2. You will be, 2. Ton will be, 

3. He will be, 3. They will be. 



PRESENT PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I have been, 1. We have been, 

2. You have been, 2. You have been, 

3. He has been, 3. They have been. 



PAST PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I had been, 1. We had been, 

2. You had been, 2. You had been, 

3. He had been, 3. They had been. 



FUTURE PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I shall have been, 1. We shall have been, 

2. You will have been, 2. You will have been, 

3. He will have been, 3. They will have been. 



POTENTIAL MODE. 

PRESENT OR FUTURE TENSE.* 

1.- I can be, 1. We can be, 

2. You can be, 2. You can be, 

3. He can be, 3. They can be. 

* May and must are regularly used as auxiliaries in this tense. 
Might, could, would, and shoidd are also sometimes used as auxiliaries 
in this tense. 



166 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



PAST TENSE. 



1. I could be, 1. We could be, 

2. You could be, 2. You could be, 

3. He could be, 3. They could be. 

PKESENT PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I may have been, 1. We may have been, 

2. You may have been, 2. You may have been, 

3. He may have been, 3. They may have been. 

PAST PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I might have been, 1. We might have been, 

2. You might have been, 2. You might have been, 

3. He might have been, 3. They might have been. 

Note. — Such forms as these: If I were you, If he be 
competent, etc., should be regarded as present potential. 
See 12. 

IMPEKATIVE MODE. 

2. Be, or be you 2. Be, or be you. 



INFINITIVE MODE. 
Present, To be. Present Perfect, To have been. 

PARTICIPLES. 

Present, Being. Perfect, Been. 

Compound, Having been. 



I 



CONJUGATION OF VERB TO LOVE. 



21. Conjugation of the verb to love. 



167 





ACTIVE VOICE. 






INDICATIVE MODE. 




PRESENT TENSE. 




1. 

2. 
3. 


Singular. 

I love, 1. 
You love, 2. 
He loves, 3. 


Plural. 
We love, 
You love, 
They love. 


1. 

2. 
3. 


PAST TENSE. 

I loved, 1. 
You loved, 2. 
He loved, 3. 

FUTURE TENSE. 


We loved, 
You loved, 
They loved. 


1. 

2. 
3. 


I shall love, 1. 
You will love, 2. 
He will love, 3. 


We shall love, 
You will love, 
They will love. 




PRESENT PERFECT TENSE. 


1. 
2. 
3. 


I have loved, 1. 
You have loved, 2. 
He has loved, 3. 


We have loved, 
You have loved, 
They have loved. 



PAST PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I had loved, 1. We had loved, 

2. You had loved, 2. You had loved, 

3. He had loved, 3. They had loved. 

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I shall have loved, 1. We shall have loved, 

2. You will have loved, 2. You will have loved, 

3. He will have loved, 3. They will have loved. 



168 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

POTENTIAL MODE. 

PRESENT OR FUTURE TENSE. 

1. I may love, 1. We may love, 

2. You may love, 2. You may love, 

3. He may love, 3. They may love. 

PAST TENSE.* 

1. I might love, 1. We might love, 

2. You might love, 2. You might love, 

3. He might love, 3. They might love. 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I may have loved, 1. We may have loved, 

2. You may have loved, 2. You may have loved, 

3. He may have loved, 3. They may have loved. 

PAST PERFECT TENSE. 

1. I might have loved, 1. We might have loved, 

2. You might have loved, 2. You might have loved, 

3. He might have loved, 3. They might have loved. 



IMPEEATIVE MODE. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

2. Love, or love you. Love, or love you. 



INFINITIVE MODE. 

Present, To love. Present Perfect, To have loved. 

* Could, might, would, and should often express present time. 



PASSIVE VOICE OF VERB TO LOVE. 169 

PAKTICIPLES. 

1. Present, Loving. 2. Perfect, Loved. 
3. Compound, Having loved. 

22. Passive Voice. — 

The Passive Voice of a verb is formed by prefixing 
to its perfect participle the various forms of the verb to be. 



INDICATIVE MODE, 

PRESENT TENSE, PASSIVE VOICE. 

1. I am loved, 1. We are loved, 

2. You are loved, 2. You are loved, 

3. He is loved, 3. They are loved. 

It will not be necessary to conjugate the passive voice. 
The following is a synopsis of it. 



INDICATIVE MODE. 

Present, I am loved. 

Past, I was loved. 

Future, I shall be loved. 

Present Perfect, I have been loved. 

Past Perfect, I had been loved. 

Future Perfect, I shall have been loved. 



POTENTIAL MODE. 

Present or Future, I can be loved. 
Past, I could be loved. 
Present Perfect, I may have been loved. 
Past Perfect, I could have been loved. 



170 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

IMPEKATIVE MODE. 
Present, Be loved. 

INFINITIVE MODE. 

Present, To be loved. 

Present Perfect, To have been loved. 



PAETICIPLES. 

Present, "Being loved. 

Perfect, Loved. 

Compound, Having been loved. 

23. Progressive Form. — - 

Place before the present participle the various forms of 
the verb to be. 



SYNOPSIS. 
INDICATIVE MODE. 

Present, I am loving. 
Past, I was loving. 

Future, I shall be loving. 

Present perfect, I have been loving. 

Past perfect, I had been loving. 

Future perfect, I shall have been loving. 

The same law is observed in the other modes. 



PROGRESSIVE PASSIVE OF VERBS. 171 

Some writers object to the use of the progressive passive. 
A few quotations from standard writers will show that the 
progressive passive form of the verb has gained a place 
in our language. 

He felt that he was being relieved from a difficulty. 

— George Eliot 

This poor little heart was being bruised. 

— George Eliot 

The dinner was being set on the table. 

— Mrs. Stowe. 

My old visions were being realized. — Trollope. 

The Boyne was being fought, and won, and lost. 

— Thackeray. 

Every town should come to realize that it was being de- 
frauded of its own revenue. — J. G. Blaine. 

A soul is being breathed into him. — Hawthorne. 

While we are being amused by the ballot, woman is 
quietly taking things into her own hands. 

— C. D. Warner. 

Brook Farm was being organized. — Higginson. 

The example of Tennessee was being closely imitated 
by the Kentuckians. — McMaster. 

These lines are being written. — Tourgee. 

. There was a period in which she felt that they were 
being ruined. — Howells. 

Work of that kind was being done. — Dickens. 



172 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

The inaugural address was being delivered. 

— Lincoln's Second Inaugural. 

Preparations were being made for celebrating his birth- 
day. — Leslie Stephens. 

Rome is being destroyed. — Margaret Fuller. 

Italy was being absorbed into vast estates. 

— Froude. 

He wondered what game was being played with him. 

— Henry James. 

The progressive passive is used only in the present 
tense and past tense, indicative mode. 

In many instances the active form is better than the 
passive form ; as, The house is building. 

In verbs that may have a person as the subject and a 
person as the object, the passive form is better. 

The two following sentences have very different mean- 
ings: 

The boy is whipping. 
The boy is being whipped. 

24. The Emphatic form of the verb is used only in 
the present tense and past tense. In the present tense it is 
formed by prefixing do to the simple form, in the past 
tense by prefixing did to the simple form. 

Present, I do love. 
Past, I did love. 

25. The Ancient forms of the verb differ so slightly 
from the present forms that they need no extended notice. 

The second person singular generally ends in /, st, or 
est, the third person generally ends in eth. 



AGREEMENT OF THE VERB. 173 

The following are the most common forms: 
Pres., Thou art, Thou lovest, 

Past, Thou wast, Thou lovedst, 

Future, Thou wilt be, Thou wilt love, 

Pres. Perf, Thou hast been, Thou hast loved, 
Past Perf., Thou hadst been, Thou hadst loved, 
Fu. Perf., Thou wilt have been, Thou wilt have loved. 

26. A verb must agree with its subject in person and 
number. 

(a) Two or more subjects connected by and require 
a verb in the plural number; as, Adams and Franklin 
were eminent statesmen. 

(b) When special prominence is given to each subject 
in the singular, the verb should be singular. This is 
generally the case when the subject is preceded by each, 
every, etc. ;'as, Every horse and every man was an object 
of terror to the enemy. 

(c) When two or more subjects mean the same person 
or thing, the verb should be singular; as, The celebrated 
general and the eminent statesman was an object of 
admiration. 

(d) Two or more subjects connected by or, or nor require 
a singular verb ; as, This man or this woman is the responsi- 
ble party. 

(e) When the subjects joined by or are of different 
persons or numbers, the verb should agree with the near- 
est ; as, The man or the boys were mistaken ; Either you 
or I am mistaken. 

(/) The verb following a collective noun is singular 



174 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

unless the individuals are made prominent; in this case 
the verb is plural. 

Examples. — The cortes was allowed to extend a bene- 
jficial and protecting, sway over the land. — Prescott. 

The nobility of every denomination were entitled to a 
seat in the legislature. — Prescott 

(g) The verb should not be plural if a subject in the 
singular number has a plural noun connected with it as a 
modifier ; as, The commander with more than fifty soldiers 
was killed in the first charge. 

(fe) The subject of an infinitive is in the objective 
case. I desired him to do it. The infinitive has no per- 
son nor number." 

27. Copulative Verbs are used to join something 
to the subject. A copulative verb and its subject do not 
make complete sense by themselves. A copulative verb 
is always followed by a noun or pronoun that means the 
same thing as the subject, or by an adjective that describes 
the subject. 

The verb to be is generally a copulative verb, although 
not always. The following sentences indicate the uses 
of the copulative verb: 

1. The man was president. 

2. The man became superintendent. 

3. The man was chosen general. 

4. The man was elected president. 

5. The man was made commander. 

6. The man was named John. 

7. The man was appointed inspector. 

8. The man was styled Supreme Commander. 



THE COPULATIVE VEEB. 175 

9. The man seemed sick. 

10. He appeared cheerful. 

11. He looked honest. 

12. He stood high in scholarship. 

13. The whole party arrived safe. 

14. He tried to be king. 

15. She blushed red. 

16. She walked a queen. 

17. He grew to be a man. 

18. The sun shone bright. 

19. The man was rendered helpless. 

20. The sun was setting clear. 

21. The soldier lay dead. 

22. It sparkled bright and blue. 

23. They ran wild. 

24. This claims to be called a haunted chamber. 

— Haivthorne. 

25. The apple tastes sweet. 

26. The man towered high above his associates. 

27. His voice sounds harsh. 

28. He was born a Reformer. 

29. He lived a Pharisee. 

30. He may be said to have been born a tinker. 

— Macaulay. 

31. He remained true to his convictions. 

32. His occasional orations were esteemed models of 
smooth and flowing rhetoric. — Motley. 

33. I was born an American, I live an American, and I 
shall die an American. 

34. All men are created equal. 



176 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

28. A knowledge of a copulative verb is very impor- 
tant. It should be kept in mind that it is a copulative 
verb only that can have a predicate nominative after it; 
and that the noun or pronoun following a finite copulative 
verb must be in the nominative case. It is not an un- 
common mistake for good writers to use the wrong case of 
pronouns in such a connection. The following are 
familiar examples: 

Whom do men say that I am? 

I do not know whom it was. 

When a clause containing a copulative verb is abridged 
by changing the verb to the infinitive mode and the sub- 
ject to the objective case, the predicate noun or pronoun 
must be in the objective case. 

Example.— I know that it is he. 

Abbldged. — I know it to be him. 

An adverb is often used incorrectly after a copulative 
verb instead of an adjective; as, She looks badly. In this 
sentence it is plain that the modifying word should 
describe the subject and not the manner of looking. It 
should be: She looks bad. 

Note. — The verb to be is not copulative when it denotes 
mere existence. "He that cometh to God must believe 
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that dili- 
gently seek him." The last is is copulative: the first is 
is not copulative. When two verbs form a copula it is 
compound. 

THE PARTICIPLE. 

29. It has been stated in 22 and 23 that the perfect pas- 
sive participle and the present active participle are used 



. THE PARTICIPLE. 177 

in forming the passive and the progressive forms of the 
verb. Besides these, there are four distinct uses of the 
participle : 

1. Noun alone. 

2. Adjective alone. 

3. Verb and adjective. 

4. Verb and noun. 

1. Noun Alone : The falling of the tree was heard 
a long distance. 

In such instances the noun is usually preceded by the 
and followed bv of. 

The end is the well being of the people. The means 
are the imparting of moral and religious education; the 
providing of every thing necessary for defense against 
foreign enemies ; the maintaining of internal order ; the 
establishing of a judicial, financial, and commercial sys- 
tem, under which wealth may be rapidly accumulated and 
securely enjoyed. — Macaulay. 

2. Adjective Alone: He was pleased with the con- 
fiding spirit of the youth. 

The difference between the soaring angel and the creep- 
ing snake was but a type of the difference between Bacon 
* "the philosopher and Bacon the Attorney General, Bacon 
seeking for truth, and Bacon seeking for the seals. 

— Macaulay. 

3. Verb and Adjective: They suffered greatly 
from fatigue, hunger, and watchfulness, encountering 
many perils, fording and swimming the numerous rivers 



178 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

of the plains, toiling through the deep tangled forests, 
and clambering oyer the high and rocky mountains. 

— Irving. 

The Vengeance, uttering terrific shrieks and flinging 
her arms about her head like all the forty furies at once, 
was tearing from house to house, rousing the women. 

— Dickens. 

Opinions were still in a state of chaotic anarchy, inter- 
mingling, separating, advancing, receding. 

— Macaulay. 

Impeached, convicted, sentenced, driven with ignominy 
from the presence of his sovereign, shut out from the delib- 
erations of his fellow-nobles, loaded with debt, branded 
with dishonor, sinking under the weight of years, sorrows, 
and diseases, Bacon was Bacon still. — Macaulay. 

Seizing this handful of straw with a death-grip, and 
bidding my three friends bury me honorably, I got upon 
my legs to save both countries ; or perish in the attempt. 

— Hawthorne. 

4. Verb and Noun: I felt a hesitation nboutplung- 
ing into this muddy tide of human activity and pastime. 

— Hawthorne. 

A great part of courage is the courage of having done 
the thing before. — Emerson. 

Isabella was far from being shaken by these arguments. 

<■ — Prescott, 



IRREGULAR VERBS. 



179 



30. Irregular Verbs. — 




Present Ind. 


Past Ind. 


Perf. Participle. 


Abide, 


abode, 


abode. 


Am or be, 


was, 


been. 


Arise, 


arose, 


arisen. 


Awake, 


awoke, \ 
awaked, ) 


awaked. 


Bear (to bring 
forth) 


bore, | 
bare, ) 


born. 


Bear (to carry), 


bore, 


borne. 


Beat, 


beat, 


beat, ) 
beaten. J 


Become, 


became, 


become. 


Befall, 


befell, 


befallen. 


Beget, 


begot, | 
begot, j 


begotten, ( 
begot. . ) 


Begin, 


began, 


begun. 


Behold, 


beheld, 


beheld. 


Belay," R* 


belaid, 


belaid. 


Bend, B. 


bent, 


bent. 


Bereave, R. 


bereft, 


bereft. 


Beseech, 


besought, 


besought. 


Bestride, 


bestrode, ) 
bestrid, ) 


bestridden, \ 
bestrid. ) 


Bet, R. 


bet, 


bet. 


Bid, 


bade, \ 
bid, ( 


bidden, ) 
bid. \ 


Bind, 


bound, 


bound. 


Bite, 


bit, 


bit, ) 

bitten. ) 


Bleed, 


bled, 


bled. 


Bless, R. 


blest, 


blest. 


Blow, 


blew, 


blown. 


* Regular also. 







180 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



Present Ind. 


Past Ind. 


Perf. Participle 


Break, 


broke, 


broken, \ 
broke. J 


Breed, 


bred, 


bred. 


Bring, 


brought, 


brought. 


Build, R. 


built, 


built. 


Burn, R. 


burnt, 


burnt. 


Burst, 


burst, 


burst. 


Buy, 


bought, 


bought. 


Cast, 


cast, 


cast. 


Catch, R. 


caught, 


caught. 


Chide, 


chid, 


chidden, \ 
chid. \ 


Choose, 


chose, 


chosen. 


Cleave (to split), 


cleft, ) 
clove, > 
clave, \ 


cleft, ) 
cloven. \ 


Cleave (to adhere), , 

XV. 


cleaved. 


Cling, 


clung, 


clung. 


Clothe, R. 


clad, 


clad. 


Come, 


came, 


come, 


Cost, 


cost, 


cost. 


Creep, 


crept, 


crept. 


Crow, 


crowed, \ 
crew, ) 


crowed. 






Cut, 


Cut, 


cut. 


Dare, 


dared, \ 
durst, ) 


dared. 


Deal, 


dealt, 


dealt. 


Dig, R. 


dug, 


dug. 


Do, 


did, 


done. 


Draw, 


drew, 


drawn. 


Dream, R. 


dreamt, 


dreamt. 


Dress, R. 


drest, 


drest. 



IRREGULAR VERBS. 



181 



Drink, 


drank, 


drunk. \ 
drank. \ 


Drive, 


drove, 


driven. 


Dwell, R. 


dwelt, 


dwelt. 


Eat, 


ate, 


eaten. 


Fall, 


fell, 


fallen. 


Feed, 


fed, 


fed. 


Feel, 


felt, 


felt. 


Fight, 


fought, 


fought. 


Find, 


found, 


found. 


Flee, 


fled, 


fled. 


Fling, 


flung, 


flung. 


Fly, 


flew, 


flown. 


Forsake, 


forsook, 


forsaken. 


Freeze, 


froze, 


frozen. 


Freight, 


freighted, 


freighted, 
fraught. 


Get, 


got, 


g°t, j. 
gotten. ) 


Gild, R. 


gilt, 


gilt. 


Gird, R. 


girt, 


girt. 


Give, 


gave, 


given. 


Go, 


went, 


gone. 


Grave, R. 


graved, 


graven. 


Grind, 


ground, 


ground. 


Grow, 


grew, 


grown. 


Hang, R. 


hung, 


hung. 


Have, 


had, 


had. 


Hear, 


heard, 


heard. 


Heave, R. 


hove, 


hove. 


Hew, R. 


hewed, 


hewn. 


Hide, 


hid, 


hid, i 

hidden. ) 


Hit, 


hit, 


hit. 


Hold, 


held, 


held, / 
holden. \ 



182 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



Hurt, 

Keep, 

Kneel, E. 

Knit, E. 

Know, 

Lade, E. 

Lay, 

Lead, 

Lean, E. 

Leap, E. 

Learn, E. 

Leave, 

Lend, 

Let, 

Lie (to recline), 

Light, E. 

Lose, 

Make, 

Mean, 

Meet, 

Mow, E. 

Pay, 

Pen (to inclose) , E, 

Put, 

Quit, E. 

Eap, E. 

Eead, 

Eend, 

Bid, E. 

Eide, 

King, 

Eise, 
Eive, E. 

Eun, 
Saw, E. 



hurt, 


hurt. 


kept, 


kept. 


knelt, 


knelt. 


knit, 


knit. 


knew, 


known. 


laded, 


laden. 


laid, 


laid. 


led, 


led. 


leant, 


leant. 


leapt, 


leapt. 


learnt, 


learnt. 


left, 


left. 


lent, 


lent. 


let, 


let. 


lay, 


lain. 


lit, 


lit. 


lost, 


lost. 


made, 


made. 


meant, 


meant. 


met, 


met. 


mowed, 


mown. 


paid, 


paid. 


pent, 


pent. 


put, 


put. 


quit, 


quit. 


rapt, 


rapt. 


read, 


read. 


rent, 


rent. 


rid, 


rid. 


rode, 


ridden. 


rang, \ 
rung, J 


rung. 


rose, 


risen. 


rived, 


riven. 


ran, 


run. 


sawed, 


sawn. 



IRREGULAR VERBS. 



183 



Say, 


said, 


said. 


See, 


saw, 


seen. 


Seek, 


sought, 


sought. 


Seethe, R 


seethed,* 


sodden. 


Sell, 


sold, 


sold. 


Send, 


sent, 


sent. 


Set, 


set, 


set. 


Shake, 


shook, 


shaken. 


Shape, R. 


shaped, 


shapen. 


Shave, R. 


shaved, 


shaven. 


Shear, R. 


sheared, 


shorn. 


Shed, 


shed, 


shed. 


Shine, R. 


shone, 


shone. 


Shoe, 


shod, 


shod. 


Shoot, 


shot, 


shot. 


Show, R. 


shown, 


shown. 


Shred, 


shred, 


shred. 


Shut, 


shut 


shut. 


Sit, 


sat, 


sat. 


Sing, 


sung, ) 
sang, ( 


sung. 


Sink, 


sunk, ( 
sank, ) 


sunk. 


Sow, R. 


sowed, 


sown. 


Slay, 


slew, 


slain. 


Sleep, 


slept, 


slept. 


Sling, 


slung, 


slung. 


Slink, 


slunk, 


slunk. 


Slit, R. 


slit, 


slit. 


Smell, R. 


smelt, 


smelt. 


Smite, 


smote, 


smitten, ) 
smit. \ 


Speak, 


spoke, 


spoken. 


Speed, R. 


sped, 


sped. 


Spell, R. 


spelt, 


spelt. 


Spend, 


spent, 


spent. 



184 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



Spill, E. 


spilt. 


spilt. 


Spin, 


spun, 


spun. 


Spit, 


spit, ) 
spat, ) 


spit. 


Split, 


split, 


split. 


Spoil, K. 


spoilt, 


spoilt. 


Spread, 


spread, 


spread. 


Spring, 
Stand, 


sprang, ) 
sprung, ) 


sprung. 


stood, 


stood. 


Stave, E. 


stove, 


stove. 


Stay, E. 


staid, 


staid. 


Steal, 


stole, 


stolen. 


Stick, 


stuck, 


stuck. 


Sting, 


stung, 


stung. 


Stink, 


stunk, ) 
stank, y 


stunk. 


Stride, 

■ 


strode, 


stridden, 
strid. 


Strike, 


struck, 


struck, 
stricken. 


String, 


strung, 


strung. 


Strive, 


strove, 


striven. 


Swear, 


swore, ) 
sware, ) 


sworn. 






Sweat, R. 


sweat, 


sweat. 


Sweep, 


swept, 


swept. 


Swell, E. 


swelled, 


swollen. 


Swim, 


swam, ) 
swum, ) 


swum. 






Swing, 


swung, 


swung. 


Take, 


took, 


taken. 


Teach, 


taught, 


taught. 


Tear, 


tore, 


torn. 


Tell, 


told, 


told. 


Think, 


thought, 


thought. 





ADJECTIVE. 




Thrive, E. 


thrived, 


thriven. 


Throw, 


threw, 


thrown. 


Thrust, 


thrust, 


thrust. 


Tread, 


trod, 


trod, 
trodden. 


Wax, E. 


waxed, 


waxen. 


Wear, 


wore, 


worn. 


Weave, E. 


wove, 


woven, ) 
wove. ) 


Weep, 


wept, 


wept. 


Wet, E. 


wet, 


wet. 


Win, 


won, 


won. 


Wind, 


wound, 


wound. 


Work, E. 


wrought, 


wrought 


Wring, 


wrung, 


wrung. 


Write, 


wrote, 


written. 



185 



ARTICLE XIV. 

THE ADJECTIVE. 

1. An Adjective is a word used to describe or qual- 
ify the meaning of a noun or pronoun ; as, 

The tall tree bends. 

The good man went home. 

2. The is generally designated as the Definite Arti- 
cle, and A or An as the Indefinite Article. These 
are properly classed under the general head of adjectives. 

3. Most adjectives vary their form to express different 
degrees of quality. There are three degrees of Com- 
parison: Positive, Comparative, and Superlative. 

4. The Positive degree expresses a simple quality; 
as, He is wise. The Comparative degree expresses the 



186 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

quality in a higher or lower degree ; as, He is wiser. The 
Superlative degree expresses the quality in the highest 
or lowest degree ; as, He is the wisest 

5. Monosyllabic adjectives are generally compared by 
adding er or est to the positive form ; as, tall, taller, tallest. 

A few dissyllabic adjectives are compared in the same 
way; as, able, abler; happy, happier. 

Polysyllabic adjectives are generally compared by 'plac- 
ing more and most before the positive form ; as, beautiful, 
more beautiful, most beautiful. A descending comparison 
is indicated by placing less and least before the positive ; 
as, less able, least able. 

6. Some adjectives are compared irregularly. The fol- 
lowing are the most common: 

Positive. Comparative. Superlative. 
Good, better, best. 

Bad, worse, worst. 

Little, less, least. 

Much, more, most. 

7. The Comparative degree is used when two objects 
are compared; ^s, John is the taller of the two. 

The Superlative degree is used when more than two 
objects are compared; as, John was the. tallest boy in the 
crowd. 

8. The ending ish indicates a degree of the quality less 
than the positive ; as, bluish, saltish. 

9. Some adjectives, from their very meaning, can not 
be compared ; as, round, square, perfect, equal, etc. Some 
of these adjectives are written with the comparative and 
the superlative forms. 



ADVERB. 187 

10. The omission of the article often changes the mean- 
ing of an expression. A black and white flag means one 
flag. A black and a white flag means two flags. 

11. A is used before a consonant sound, and an before 
a vowel sound. An is used before a word beginning with 
h sounded, if the accent is not on the first syllable; as, an 
historical play. 

12. The expression a few is used in contrast with none; 
few in contrast with many. 

13. The word many may be used before a singular noun 
if the noun is preceded by a; as, Many a man was lost. 

14. The adjectives this and that have plurals, these and 
those. 



AETICLE XV. 

THE ADVERB. 

1. An Adverb is a word used to qualify or modify a 
verb, adjective, or another adverb; as, 

(1) She sings sweetly. 

(2) She is very tall. 

(3) She sings very sweetly. 

2. Adverbs may be divided into five general classes: 

a. Adverbs of place; as, here, there, up, down, thither, 
etc. 

b. Adverbs of time; as, then, now, always, presently, 
next. 

c. Adverbs of manner; as, thus, truly, foolishly. 

d. Adverbs of degree; as, scarcely, greatly, little, more. 



188 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

. 3. Some adverbs can not be referred to either of these 
classes. Yes and no have been called responsives. 

4. There is often an expletive adverb; that is, it is sim- 
ply used to introduce a sentence, and has no qualifying 
force ; as, There was a great fire. 

5. While, when, where, before, and a few others, when 
used to introduce adverbial clauses, are called Conjunc- 
tive Adverbs. 

6. The word the is often used with an adverb or adjec- 
tive to form an adverbial phrase; as, The quicker the 
better. 

7. Many adverbs are compared. 

A few are compared by adding er and est to the posi- 
tive; as, soon, sooner, soonest 

Most adverbs are compared by placing more and most 
and less and least before the positive; as, happily, more 
happily, and most happily. 

8. Some adverbs are compared irregularly. The fol- 
lowing are those in most common use: 



Positive. 


Comparative. 


Superlative. 


HI, { 
Badly, ( 


worse, 


worst. 


Much, 


more, 


most. 


Far, 


farther, 


farthest. 


Well, 


better, 


best. 



9. It is a common error to use the word most for 
almost; as, He is most (almost) there. 

10. For Eelative Adverbs see Art. XL, 14. 



PBEPOSITION — CONJUNCTION. 



189 



AETICLE XVI. 

THE PREPOSITION. 

1. A Preposition is a word that shows the relation 
between its object and the word modified by the phrase. 

2. The following are some of the prepositions in most 
common use: 



about, 


before, 


ere, 


through, 


above, 


behind, 


for, 


till, 


across, 


below, 


from, 


to, 


after, 


beneath, 


in, 


toward, 


along, 


between, 


of, 


upon, 


among, 


but, 


on, 


with, 


around, 


b y> 


past, 


within, 


at, 


down, 


since, 
than,* 


without. 



3, Between and betwixt are applicable to two objects; 
among and amongst to more than two objects. 

4 Into is used after verbs that signify entrance. Notice 
the difference of meaning in these two sentences: He 
walked in the field ; He walked into the field. 

Note. — It requires the most discriminating judgment 
to use the correct preposition always. The dictionary 
should be constantly consulted on this point 



AETICLE XVII. 

THE CONJUNCTION. 

1. A Conjunction is a word used to connect words 
phrases, or clauses. 



* Before whom. 



190 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

2. Connectives in general may be divided into two 
main classes : Coordinate and Subordinate. 

3. Coordinate Connectives are conjunctions that 
join elements of the same rank, that is, two or more nouns, 
two or more adjectives, etc. 

Examples. — I saw the man and the woman ; He learned 
to read and to write. 

4. Subordinate Connectives are connectives that 
join subordinate clauses to principal clauses. They are 
Subordinate Conjunctions, Conjunctive Adverbs, and Rela- 
tive Pronouns. 

Examples. — He succeeds because he studies. I will 
go home when I am summoned. I saw the man whom 
you mentioned. 

5. Certain conjunctions that are used in pairs are called 
Correlative Conjunctions. Some of the most com- 
mon are : both, and ; as, so ; either, or ; neither, nor ; though, 
yet ; not only, but also ; whether, or. 

It is important that the Correlative Conjunctions be 
next to the words that they join. 

Example. — He will not only write a letter, but also an 
essay. Letter and essay are the two words joined, and 
the sentence should be: He will write not only a letter, 
but also an essay. 

6. A coordinate connective should not be used to join a 
relative clause to a principal clause. 

Example. — I sent you the book and which I trust will 
be satisfactory. 



SYNTAX. 191 

7. And is often placed between two finite verbs when 
the second verb should be an infinitive. 

Example. — I will try and go. 
I will try to go. 



AETICLE XVIII. 

THE INTERJECTION. 

An Interjection is a word used to express emotion. 
The most common interjections are: alas, hail, indeed, 
pshaw, fie, amen, etc. 



AETICLE XIX. 

SYNTAX. 

1. Syntax treats of the construction and the analysis 
of sentences. 

2. A Sentence is a group of words making complete 
sense ; as, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis- 
dom. 

3. Every sentence has a Subject and a Predicate. These 
are called the Principal Elements. 

4. The Snbject of a sentence is that of which some- 
thing is asserted. 

5. The Predicate is that which asserts something of 
the subject. 

6. The Snbject of a sentence is a noun or pronoun in 
the nominative case. 



192 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

7. The Predicate is the verb alone, if the verb is not 
copulative. If there is a copulative verb in the sentence, 
the predicate is the adjective or noun that follows it. 

8. Examples: 

1. The man lived in London. 

2. The boy might have escaped. 

3. -|- is the sign of addition. 

4. To err * is human. 

5. The clerk was considered honest. 

6. How he escaped is unknown. 

In these examples the subjects of the sentences are 
man, boy, -]-, to err, clerk, and how he escaped. The pred- 
icates are lived, might have escaped, sign, human, honest, 
and unknown. Is and was considered are the copulas. 

9. The Grammatical Subject is the simple sub- 
ject. 

The Logical Subject is the simple subject with all 
its modifiers. 

The Grammatical Predicate is the simple predi- 
cate. 

The Logical Predicate is the simple predicate with 
all its modifiers. 

Example. — A man of integrity can be trusted at all 
times. 

In this sentence man is the grammatical subject and 
can be trusted the grammatical predicate. The logical 
subject is a man of integrity, and the logical predicate is 
can be trusted at all times. 

* This is a noun as it is used. 



SUBORDINATE ELEMENTS. 193 

Note. — A compound subject is formed by the union of 
two or more simple subjects. A compound predicate is 
formed by the union of two or more simple predicates. 

10. Modifiers are words that modify or limit the 
meaning of other words. These are called Subordi- 
nate Elements. 

Every sentence has the principal elements already men- 
tioned. A sentence does not necessarily have subordinate 
elements." 

11. Subordinate Elements are divided into three 
classes: Adjective, Adverbial, and Objective. 

12. An Adjective Element is a word or group of 
words used to modify a noun or pronoun. 

Adjective elements may be classified under five heads: 

1. An Adjective or Participle; as, A good man has 
died. 

2. A Noun in Apposition; as, Franklin, the great 
philosopher, has left an honored name. 

3. A Noun in the Possessive; as, The mart's house 
was burned. 

4. A Phrase or an Infinitive; as, The nations of 
Europe have suffered from many wars. 

5. A Clause; as, A man who is honest can be trusted. 

13. An Adverbial Element is a word or collection 
of words used to modify a verb, an adjective, or an 
adverb. 

Examples. — The wind blew furiously; The road was 
very dangerous. 

14. An Objective Element is the object of a tran- 
sitive verb. 

13 



194 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Examples. — Columbus discovered America. 

The boy tries to learn. 

I have read that those who listened to Lord Chatham felt 
that there was something finer in the man than any thing 
which he said. — Emerson. 

Note. — Distinguish carefully between an adverbial ele- 
ment and an objective element. 

15. Elements are divided into three classes: 

A single word is an element of the First Class. 

A phrase or an infinitive is an element of the Second 
Class. 

A clause is an element of the Third Class. See Art. 
XXII. 

16. A phrase is a group of words that does not make 
complete sense ; as, by and by; on the tree; in the road; 
to have gone, etc. 

17. Independent Elements are words or expres- 
sions that are used with sentences, but do not form a part 
of them. They are generally nouns in the absolute case 
and interjections; as, The sun rising, the clouds dispersed. 

18. Synthesis treats of the construction of sentences. 
Analysis treats of the separation of a sentence into 

its parts. 



AETICLE XX. 

SENTENCES. 

1. There are four classes of sentences with respect to 
use: Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, and Exclama- 
tory. 



KINDS OF SENTENCES. 195 

2. A Declarative Sentence is used to make an 
assertion ; as, The man is working in the field. 

3. An Interrogative Sentence asks a question; 
as, Am I my brother's keeper? 

4. An Imperative Sentence expresses a command 
or exhortation; as, John, shut the door. 

5. An Exclamatory Sentence expresses deep 
emotion, or is an exclamation of some kind ; as, How sad 
is the case! Bacon far behind his age! — Macaulay. 

Note. — In an exclamatory sentence, the subject or pred- 
icate is often omitted. 

6. In a Direct Quotation the exact words of another 
are used; as, "I will go home," said the man, " some time 
this afternoon," 

7. In an Indirect Quotation the thought of another 
is expressed without using the exact words ; as, The man 
said that he would go home this afternoon. 

Note. — Notice that in an indirect quotation the pronoun 
may be changed to a different person and the verb to a 
different mode and tense. 

8. An Implied Question, or Indirect Question, 

occurs as a clause of a sentence. 

Examples. — I do not know who he is. 

I do not know where he went. 

I can not find out whether he will do the work or not 

These statements imply that the above questions have 
been asked, or have arisen in one's mind. 

See Art. XII. 



196 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

AETICLE XXI. 

1. There are three classes of sentences with respect to 
form: Simple, Complex, and Compound. 

2. A Simple Sentence contains one statement or 
proposition; as, The cold winds blow. 

There may be two or more subjects, or two or more 
predicates. These elements are then compound. 
Examples. — The boy and the girl went home. 
The boy went and studied his lesson. 

3. A Complex Sentence contains a clause as one of 
its elements. 

Examples. — The man who studies will succeed. 
I will go home while I have the opportunity. 
The man said that he had finished his work. 
See Art. XXII. 

4. A Compound Sentence consists of two or more 
simple or complex sentences; as, A man may play the 
fool in the drifts of a desert, but every grain of sand shall 
seem to see. — Emerson. 

AETICLE XXII. 

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES AND COM- 
PLEX SENTENCES. 

(1) A Clause is a sentence within a sentence. It 
has a subject and a predicate, but it can not always stand 
alone. In the sentence, The boy studies that he may 
learn, the expression — The boy studies — is called the 
Principal Clause or Independent Clause. It 
may stand alone. The expression — that he may learn — 



SUBORDINATE CLAUSES. 197 

is called the Subordinate Clause or Dependent 

Clause. It can not stand alone. 

(2) A complex sentence can not be fully understood 
without a clear idea of subordinate clauses. 

Subordinate Clauses may be divided into three 
classes: 

(a) Adverbial. 

(b) Relative. 

(c) Substantive. 

(3) Adverbial Clauses may be divided into seven 
classes: 

I. Temporal; denoting time. 

II. Conditional; expressing a condition. 

III. Concessive; denoting a concession." 

IV. Causal; denoting cause. 

V. Local; denoting place. 

VI. Comparative; expressing < ' „ ° 

VII. Final; expressing < o "R u 

Note. — These classes may easily be expanded to nine 
or reduced to five. It should be kept in mind that many 
of the temporal clauses and most of the local clauses are 
not adverbial, but relative. See Art. XL, 14. In many 
cases a clause expresses two ideas at the same time as 
cause and time. 

EXAMPLES OF ADVEKBIAL CLAUSES. 

I. 

TEMPORAL. 

While there is a single guilty person in the universe, 



198 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

each innocent one must feel his innocence tortured by 
that guilt. — Hawthorne. 

When nature removes a great man, people explore the 
horizon for a successor. — Emerson. 

II. 

CONDITIONAL. 

If you will not rise to us, we can not stoop to you. 

— Ruskin. 

If we think of glory in the field, of wisdom in the cab- 
inet, of the purest patriotism, of the highest integrity, of 
morals without a stain, of religious feelings without 
intolerance and without extravagance, the august figure 
of Washington presents itself as the personation of all 
these ideas. — Webster. 

If the power to do hard work is not talent, it is the best 
possible substitute for it. — Garfield. 

Would you desire at this day to read our noble lan- 
guage in its native beauty, picturesque from idiomatic 
propriety, racy in its phraseology, delicate yet sinewy in 
its composition, steal the mail-bags and break open all the 
letters in female writing. — De Quincey. 

III. 

CONCESSIVE. 

I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though 
nobody is with me. — Emerson. 

IV. 

CAUSAL. 

She seems to have written about the Elizabethan age, 



ADVERBIAL CLAUSES. 199 

because she had read much about it ; she seems, on the 
other hand, to have read a little about the age of Addi- 
son, because she had determined to write about it. 

— Macaulatfs opinion of Miss Aikin. 

Note. — This is a fine example of a vigorous compound 
sentence. Each member, however, is complex and con- 
tains a causal clause. 

V. 

LOCAL. 

The soldier lay where he fell. 

VI. 

COMPARATIVE. 

We know better than we do. — Emerson. 

A forced smile is uglier than a frown. 

— Hawthorne. 

A man is not bound to be a politician any more than 
he is bound to be a soldier. — Macaulay. 

VII. 

FINAL. 

The soul environs itself with friends that it may enter 
into a grander self-acquaintance or solitude. 

— Emerson. 

The heroic couplet was then the favorite measure. The 
art of arranging words in that measure so that the lines 
may flow smoothly, that the accents may fall correctly, 
that the rhymes may strike the ear strongly, and that 
there may be a pause at the end of every distich, is an art 



200 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

as mechanical as that of mending a kettle or shoeing a 
horse, and may be learned by any human being who has 
sense enough to learn. — Macaulay. 

To Columbus God gave the keys that unlock the bar- 
riers of the ocean, so that he filled Christendom with his 
glory. — Bancroft. 

(4) Relative Clauses are always subordinate. 
See Art. XI. 

EXAMPLES. 

Each people that has disappeared, every institution 
that has passed away, has been but a step in the ladder 
by which humanity ascends towards the perfecting of its 
nature. — Bancroft, 

Sleeping or waking, we hear not the airy footsteps of 
the strange things that almost happen. — Hawthorne. 

He who can take advice is sometimes superior to him 
who can give it. — Von Knebel. 

(5) Substantive Clauses may be divided into 
four classes: 

I. Clause as a Subject 

II. Clause as a Predicate. 

III. Clause as an Object. 

IV. Clause in Apposition with some word. 

I. 

CLAUSE AS SUBJECT. 

That God rules in the affairs of men is as certain as 
any truth of physical science. — Bancroft. 



SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSES. 201 

That a historian should not record trifles, is perfectly 
true. — Macaulay. 

II. 

CLAUSE AS PKEDICATE. 

The truth evidently is that the Court did not venture to 
support Bacon, because he could not prove his innocence. 

— Macaulay. 

III. 

CLAUSE AS OBJECT. 

Shakespeare knew that tradition supplies a better fable 
than any invention can. — Emerson. 

IV. 

APPOSITIVE CLAUSES. 

With Subject: The confidence that one can succeed is 
half the battle. 

With Predicate : Our opinion is this : that Bar ere ap- 
proached nearer than any person mentioned in history 
or fiction, whether man or devil, to the idea of consummate 
and universal depravity. — Macaulay. 

With Object: When a true genius appears in the 
world, you may know him by this infallible sign, that the 
dunces are all in confederacy against him. — Swift. 

Note. — Frequently the word it represents a clause that 
is really the subject; as, It is a comfortable thought that 
the smallest and most turbid mud-puddle contains its own 
picture of heaven. — Hawthorne. 



202 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

AETICLE XXIII. 

MARKS OF PUNCTUATION. 

The following are the most common marks of punctua- 
tion: 

. Period. ' Apostrophe. 

, Comma. " " Quotation Marks. 

; Semicolon. - Hyphen. 

: Colon. ( ) Parenthesis. 

? Interrogation Point. Brackets. 

! Exclamation Point. — Dash. 



ARTICLE XXIV. 

THE PERIOD. 

A Period is used: 

1. After every declarative or imperative sentence. 

2. After every abbreviated word. 

3. After Roman numerals. 

EXAMPLES. 

Rev. Howard Crosby, D. D., LL. D., is a distinguished 
preacher. 

Charles I., King of England, was beheaded by Crom- 
well. 

Note. — The same mark is used extensively in numbers, 
but it is then called a decimal point. 



USES OF THE COMMA. 203 

ARTICLE XXV. 

USES OF THE COMMA. 

1. Every noun in the absolute case by direct address 
must be set off from the rest of the sentence by a 
Comma or by Commas. 

Example. — Father, I thank you for your kindness. 

2. The comma is used after each of a series of words, 
phrases, or clauses excepting the last. 

Example. — The colleges, the clergy, and the lawyers 
were against us. 

3. A noun in apposition with another noun is usually 
separated by commas. 

Example. — He admired Thomas Jefferson, the accom- 
plished scholar. 

Note. — If the noun in apposition is modified by an 
article only, the commas may not be used. 

4. When an adverbial clause precedes the principal 
clause, it must be separated by a comma. 

Example. — When the service was at an end, I was curi- 
ous to witness the several exits of my groups. 

Note. — An adverbial clause is separated hj a comma 
when it comes last, unless it is very short and closely 
connected with what precedes it. 

5. A participial or adjective phrase coming some dis- 
tance from the word it modifies is separated from the rest 
of the sentence by a comma. 

Example. — Haughtily waving her hand, Miriam 
rejoined her friends. — Hawthorne. 

6. A participial or adjective phrase coming next to the 



204 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

word it modifies is not separated by a comma if it is an 
essential part of the sentence; if it is simply parenthet- 
ical, it is separated. 

Example. — Skirting further round the pasture, I heard 
voices and much laughter proceeding from the interior of 
the ivood. — Haidhorne. 

The pie is an English institution, which, planted on 
American soil, ran rampant and burst forth into an un- 
told variety of genera and species. — Mrs. Stowe. 

7. A noun in the absolute case with a participle must 
be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. 

Example. — The orator spoke with great power, the 
audience paying the closest attention. 

8. Parenthetical expressions and expressions inserted 
out of their usual place are generally separated from the 
rest of the sentence by commas. 

Example. — He lived, it is said, to be a very old man. 

9. A relative clause, if restrictive, that is, essential to 
the sense, is not separated by commas. If not restrictive, 
it must be separated by commas. 

Example. — Professor Webster, who by the way stood 
high as a scholar, was the man that killed Doctor Park- 
man. 

"His stories, which made everybody laugh, were often 
made to order." 

10. A comma should be placed before a direct quota- 
tion if short. 

See Art. XXVII. 

11. A substantive clause following the verb to be is 



THE SEMICOLON. 205 

generally separated from the rest of the sentence by a 
comma ; as, Our opinion is, that he can never succeed. 

12. A comma must follow as introducing an illustra- 
tion. See 11. 

13. A comma must often be inserted to indicate whether 
a word modifies what precedes or what follows it. 

14. The following adverbial expressions are usually 
separated by commas: in short, in truth, for instance, as 
it were, no doubt, finally, in like manner, as it appears, 
namely, etc. The words, however, now, then, too, and in- 
deed, when used as strict adverbs, are not separated by 
commas. When they refer to something that precedes, 
and in some sense have the force of conjunctions, they 
must be separated by commas. 

Examples. — We must not conclude, however, that all 
men are dishonest; However wise a man may be, he 
knows comparatively little. 



AETICLE XXVI. 

THE SEMICOLON. 

The Semicolon has three common uses: 

1. It is used before as, namely, etc., introducing an 
example. 

Example. — A proper noun is the name of some par- 
ticular person or place ; as, Cleveland, Washington. 

2. It is used to separate clauses and phrases that con- 
tain commas. 



206 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

EXAMPLES. 

Sect impeaches and weakens sect; communion, com- 
munion; scholar, scholar. Even congregation rivals con- 
gregation, — R. D. Hitchcock. 

An inevitable dualism bisects nature, so that each thing 
is a half and suggests another thing to make it whole ; 
as, spirit, matter; man, woman; odd, even; subjective, 
objective; in, out; upper, under; motion, rest; yea, nay. 

— Emerson. 

From his life and works we obtain the impression that 
he was a glutton, and an ascetic; a spendthrift, and a 
miser ; a misanthrope, and a cosmopolite ; an aristocrat, 
and a radical; an infidel, and a believer; a debauchee, 
and a mystic; a cynic, and a sentimentalist; a foul libeller 
of his species, and an eloquent defender of its rights, and 
a more eloquent mourner over its wrongs; bewailing and 
denouncing the literary revolution which made his own 
writings popular; pandering to a public which he 
despised; pilfering from authors whom he ridiculed ; lash- 
ing his own bosom sins when committed by others ; in 
short, a man continually busy in giving the lie to his 
thoughts, opinions, tastes, and conduct. 

— Whipple on Byron. 

3. It is also used to separate clauses not very closely 
connected. The members composing a series of clauses 
or phrases are generally separated by semicolons. 

EXAMPLE. 

The notice which you have been pleased to take of my 
labors, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been 



THE COLON. 207 

delayed till I am indifferent and can not enjoy it; till I 
am solitary and can not impart it ; till I am known and do 
not want it. — Johnson to Chesterfield. 

Note. — Much liberty is allowed in the use of the 
semicolon. Some writers use periods or semicolons to 
separate clauses where other writers would use commas. 
The following is a paragraph from Tourgee : 
"The epoch of haste had not come. The sun rose quietly 
and set at leisure. A day's journey was a serious matter. 
The canvas-covered wagon was the ark of trade. The 
saddle was the emblem of speed. Men slept yet in their 
beds. The day began with the dawn and not with the 
train's arrival." 

Note. — The semicolon would be admissible instead of 
the period in the above. 



AETICLE XXVII. 

THE COLON. 

The Colon is used to introduce a direct quotation 
if not very short; and it is used after such words as indi- 
cate that a number of items are to follow. See Art. 
XXV., 10. 

examples. 

Holmes says: " Sin has many tools, but a lie is the 
handle that fits them all." 

The man promised to meet his patrons on the follow- 
ing days: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men 



208 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Note. — A colon is used between the name of the place 
of publication and the name of the publisher. New York: 
Harper Brothers. Clauses are sometimes separated by 
colons where they are subdivided by semicolons. 



AETICLE XXIX. 

INTERROGATION POINT. 

The Interrogation Point is used after every 
direct question; as, Is life so dear, or peace so 
sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chainsand 
slavery ? ; — Henry. 

An Implied Question does not take an inter- 
rogation point after it, as, He could not find out who 
did it. 



AETICLE XXX. 

EXCLAMATION POINT. 

The Exclamation Point is used after interjections, 
and words, phrases, and clauses that express deep emotion, 
wonder, etc. 

Hark! heard ye not that sound? 

O that I had wings like a dove ! 

Note. — Oh properly expresses surprise, woe, etc., and 
is followed by the exclamation point. O is used for the 



THE APOSTROPHE — QUOTATION MARKS. 209 

sign of address and before an exclamatory expression. It 
does not have the exclamation point after it. 



ARTICLE XXXI. 

THE APOSTROPHE. 

The Apostrophe has three uses: 

1. It is used to denote the possessive case of nouns. 

2. It is used to indicate the omission of one or more 
letters. 

3. It is used to denote the plural of letters, figures, etc. 

EXAMPLES. 

This is John's book. 

'Tis curious that we only live as deep as we live. 

— Emerson. 
He sees a distracting choice of No. 8's. 

— De Quincey. 



AETICLE XXXII. 

QUOTATION MARKS. 

Quotation Marks should enclose the language of 
another; as, Holmes says: " Our brains are seventy-year 
clocks. The Angel of Life winds them up once, for all, 
then closes the case, and gives the key into the hand of 
the Angel of the Resurrection." 

A quotation within a quotation is enclosed with single 
quotation marks * '. 
14 



210 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Note. — Quotation marks are not used if the author's 
name is placed at the end of the passage quoted. 



AETICLE XXXIII. 

THE HYPHEN. 

The Hyphen is used between the parts of a compound 
word, to separate words into syllables, and at the end of a 
line when a word is divided. 

Note. — When a part of a word is carried to another 
line, a syllable must never be divided. 



* AETICLE XXXIV. 

THE PARENTHESES AND BRACKETS. 

The Parentheses and Brackets are used to enclose 
something not essential to the sense. Their use is not so 
common as formerly. Brackets are also used to enclose 
an expression inserted in a quotation; as, The black 
and [the] white squares. — Holmes. 



AETICLE XXXV. 

THE DASH. 

The Dash is used when there is a sudden break in 
the sentence; when a part of a word is omitted; before 
the name of an author when it is used at the end of a 
quotation; between two numbers of a series, showing that 



PUNCTUATION MAKES. 211 

those intervening are included ; to separate a parenthetical 
expression. 

EXAMPLES. 

Was there ever — But I scorn to boast. 

Mr. E n has been chosen. 

If you have the consciousness of genius, do something 
to show it. — Holmes. 

He accomplished the work during the years 1861-65. 

When he arrives, — and he will probably arrive soon, — 
he will do the work. 

Note. — In connection with a comma the dash is used 
to indicate apposition. 



AETICLE XXXVI. 

There are a few other marks of punctuation. 

1. An Index I31T 3 points out something of importance. 

2. The Asterisk*, Daggerf, Double Dagger^ 
Parallels , Paragraph ^f, letters, and figures point to 
notes at the margin or bottom of the page. 

3. The Paragraph ^[ denotes the beginning of a new 
subject. 

4. The Brace \ connects words. 

5. The Caret a is used in writing to insert what has 
been omitted by mistake. 

not 

The boy has studied grammar. 

A 

. 6. The Dieresis •• shows that the vowel over which it is 
placed is not connected in sound with the preceding vowel ; 
as, cooperate. 



212 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

AETICLE XXXVII. 

CAPITAL LETTERS. 

The following are the common uses of Capital Let- 
ters: 

1. The first word of every sentence. 

2. The first word of every line of poetry. 

3. The first word of every complete direct quotation. 

4. Names and titles of the Deity. Pronouns referring 
to the Deity, when the name of the Deity is not expressed, 
must begin with capitals. Other pronouns referring to the 
Deity may or may not begin with capitals. 

5. Proper names and adjectives derived from proper 
names. These include names of streets; names of the 
months; days of the week and noted days, — -Decoration 
Day, etc. ; names of political parties, religious sects, etc. 

Note. — The names of the seasons should not begin 
with capitals. East, west, north, and south should com- 
mence with capitals when they refer to different sections 
of the country. They should not begin with capitals 
when they simply mean direction. 

6. Titles of honor or respect should commence with 
capitals when they are applied to particular persons. 

Example. — A professor is not necessarily a learned 
man, but Professor Whitney is a learned man. 

Note. — On the same principle many names must be- 
gin with capitals when they refer to particular institu- 
tions, etc. 

Example. — A college is generally a blessing to the 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 213 

community in which it is situated; Yale College is a 
blessing to the whole country. 

7. The pronoun I and interjection O. 

8. The first word of items enumerated in a formal 
manner should begin with a capital; as, 

Three volumes of Shakespeare, 
Two volumes of Milton, 
One copy of Lowell. 

9. The name of an object personified; as, "On his crest 
sat Horror plumed." 

Note. — In advertisements, titles of books, etc., capital 
letters are used frequently to call special attention to 
words. 

AETICLE XXXVIII. 

ORTHOGRAPHY. 

1. Orthography treats of letters, syllables, spelling, 
sounds of letters, etc. 

2. Orthoepy treats of the pronunciation of words. 

3. A Letter is a character used to represent a sound. 

4. A Syllable is a letter or combination of letters 
that can be pronounced by a single impulse of the voice. 

5. A Word is a syllable or a combination of syllables. 

KULES FOE SPELLING. 

Kule I. — Words ending in e silent drop that let- 
ter upon the addition of a syllable beginning with a 
vowel; as, love, loving, lovable, excuse, excusable. 



214 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Exception I. — The e is retained when its omission 
will change the 'pronunciation of the word. 

Note. — This will occur when the e is preceded by c or 
g and the suffix begins with some other vowel than e. Ex- 
amples: change, changeable; service, serviceable; man- 
age, manageable. If the e should be dropped in the above 
words, the c and g would become hard and the pronuncia- 
tion would be changed. 

Note. — The pronunciation is changed in the word 
practicable. 

Exception II. — The e is retained when its omission 
will change the meaning of the w r ord. 

Examples. — Dyeing, singeing, tingeing, swingeing, 
springeing. 

Exception III. — The e is retained when its omission 
will change the appearance of the original word 
materially. 

Examples. — Shoeing, hoeing, toeing, mileage, ageing, 
eyeing, canoeing, seineing, acreage, vieing, hieing. 

Note. — The spelling of ageing, eyeing, vieing, and 
hieing is in a transition state. Most dictionaries give 
y instead of ie in the last two words* 

Seineing and canoeing have gained a place in our 
language. 

Rule II. — Monosyllables and words of two syllables 
accented on the last syllable, ending in a single consonant 
preceded by a single vowel, double that consonant upon 
the addition of a syllable beginning with a vowel. 

Examples. — Cram, cramming ; sin, sinned; mad, mad- 
dest, etc. 



DIACRITICAL MARKS. 215 

AETICLE XXXIX. 

KEY TO PRONUNCIATION. 

VOWELS. 

1. The long sound of a letter is indicated by the 
macron, a straight line placed over it; as, gate. 

The short sound of a letter is indicated by the breve, 
a curve placed over it ; as, fat. 

A. 

a, long, as in, fate, make, 
a, short, as in, fat, cat. 
a, Italian, as in, farm, father, 
a, broad, as in, ball, fall. 

OCCASIONAL SOUNDS. 

a, short Italian, as in, ask, dance. 

a, broad sound shortened, as in, what, wander. 

This is the same as the short sound of o found in not. 

Note. — Most writers claim that a has another sound in 
such words as air, pair, share. This is really the short 
sound of a modified by the r that follows it. 

2. E. 

e, long, as in, me, mete, peace. 
e, short, as in, met, end, leopard. 
e, like long a, as in, they, eight, rein. 
e, as in, ere, there, where. 

This is the modified sound of a short heard in air, 
share. 

Note. — It is claimed that e in such words as prefer, 
ermine, verge, and i in such words as Irksome, virgin, 



216 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

thirsty, is different in sound from u in urge. Does one 
educated person in a thousand make any distinction ? 

3. i. 
f, long, as in, mice, ice. 

i, short, as in pin, sin, tin. 

i, like long e, as in, machine, police. 

For another sound of i, see note on 2. Read the state- 
ments in the larger dictionaries and notice the practice of 
the most cultivated speakers. 

4. o. . • 
o, long, as in, old, bold, told, 

6, short, as in, not, odd, rod. 
6, like short u, as in, done, son. 
o, like long oo, as in, dp, move. 
o, like short do, as in, bosom, wolf. 
6, like broad a, as in, order, form, 
oo, long, as in, moon, food. 
do, short, as in, wool, foot. 

5. u. 

u, long, as in, tube, use, future. 

ii, short, as in, tub, us, but. 

u, like short do, as in, bull, pull. 

After r the letter u has the sound of ob as in rude. 

Note. — It is claimed that u has another sound in such 
words as urge, burn, purl. It is really the short sound 
of u very slightly modified by the r that follows it. 

Y. 

y, long, as in, type, fly. 

y, short, as in, nymph, lyric. 

Y has another sound in e*ucl? words as myrrh, myrtle. 



DIACRITICAL MARKS. 217 

Note. — Let the critical student of English notice the 
pronunciation of the following words: mirth, verge, 
myrrh, burn. Are the vowel sounds the same? 

7. w. 

W as a vowel has the long sound of u as in new, view, 
stew. If the letter r precedes it, it has the sound of oo, 
as in crew, shrew. 

W is a consonant at the beginning of a syllable. 

8. J is a consonant in such words as union, onion, 
seraglio. 

U is a consonant after q and in a number of other 
words; bivouac, desuetude, etc. 

Y is a consonant at the beginning of a syllable. 

9. A Diphthong is the union of two vowels in 
one sound. There are two diphthongal sounds each 
represented by two combinations. 

1. Oi, oy; as, boil, boy, coy. 

2. Ou, ow; foul, fowl, now. 

10. A Digraph is a combination of two vowels only 
one of which is sounded; as, ea in head. 

11. A Trigraph is a combination of three vowels 
only one of which is sounded ; as, iew in view. 

CONSONANTS. 

12. g, soft, like sharp s, as in, gent, gede. 
■e, hard, like k, as in, -eat, -call. 

ch, unmarked, as in, child, much, 
■eh, hard, like k, as in, -chorus, 
gh, soft, like sh, as in, ghaise, maghine. 
g, hard, as in, get, began, goat. 



218 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

g, soft, like j, as in, gem, engine. 

s, sharp (unmarked), as in, yes, dense. 

s, soft, like z, as in, has, dogs. 

th, sharp (unmarked), as in, thing, breath. 

th, flat, as in, thine, smooth, baths. 

ng (unmarked), as in, sing, single. 

n, as in, linger, link, uncle. 

x, like gz, exist, example. 
Note. — has the soft sound before e, i, and y except 
in the words sceptic and scirrhus and their deriva- 
tives. It is hard before all other letters except in a few 
words from other languages ; as, f agade. 

The character used to indicate the soft sound of c is 
called a cedilla. C has sound of z in sacrifice, suffice, etc. 
G is often (not always) soft before e, i, and y. If is 
soft before a in one word — gaol. It is hard in all other* 
places except in a few words at the end of a syllable 
when it can not unite with the following letter; as judg- 
ment, acknowledgment, abridgment, and lodgment. 



AETICLE XL. 

PARSING. 

Parsing consists in classifying the parts of speech, 
in giving their properties, and in indicating their relation 
to other words. 

MODEL FOR DIAGRAMING. 

She seems to have written about the Elizabethan age, 
because she had read much about it; she seems, on the 



MODEL FOR DIAGRAMING. 



219 



other hand, to have read a little about the age of Addi 
son, because she had determined to write about it. 

— Macaulay. 



% 



« 



QQ — h 



a 







OQ 



O 3 



g asncoaq 



asiiesdq 



■§ 

GO 



I si 



a 

a 

o 
u 



a 

o 



i 

ft 

a 

o 



The accompanying diagram gives all that is necessary 



220 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



to know on the subject. A certain amount is profitable. 
To make it the work of a term is not wise. 



MODEL FOR PARSING NOUNS. 



Note. — The words parsed are taken for the sentence 
diagramed. 



Addison 



n. 



prop. 

mas. gen., 

third per., 

sing no., 

obj. case, 

object of prep. of. 



Note. — It is better that all parsing be written. Stu- 
dents are thus drilled in punctuation, neatness of work, 
etc. In parsing nouns the most important thing is the gov- 
ernment of the word, that is, its case and the reason for it. 
No set rules have been given to be memorized. Let the 
students study Arts. V., VI., VII., and VIII. , carefully 
and fix in mind the uses of the cases. 



she 



MODEL FOR PARSING PRONOUNS. 

sim. per. pro., 

ant. not expr., 

fern, gen., 

third per., 

sing no., 

to agree with ant, 

declined ........ H 



nom. case, 
sub. of seems. 



' Sing. Plu. 

n. she, they, 

p. her, their, 

o. her, them. 



MODELS FOE PASSING. 



221 



MODEL FOE PASSING VEEBS. 

reg. int. v., 

p. p. seem, seemed, seemed, 

ind. m., 

pres. tense, ( I seem, we seem, 
seems r . ' ) 

conjugated -\ yon seem, you seem, 

third per., ( he seems, they seem. 

sing no., 

agrees with sub. she. 

Note. — Person and number do not change many forms 
of the verb. Let pupils understand which these are. 



to have written 



irreg. int. v., 

p. p. write, wrote, written, 

inf. mode, 

past. perf. tense, 

depends upon seems. 



Note. — A verb in the infinitive mode has no person 
and number. It depends on a verb, noun, or adjective 
generally, and this fact should be stated. When an 
infinitive is a noun, it must be parsed as any other noun. 



MODEL FOE PAESING PEEPOSITIONS. 



about 



prep., 

shows relation between 

age and to have written 
governs age. 



.f 



222 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 
MODEL FOB PARSING CONJUNCTIONS. 



because 



subor. conj., 
joins subor. clause 
with prin. clause 



.1 



Sentence. — Haying admired the beautiful flowers, 
they returned speedily to their homes. 



MODEL FOR PARSING ADJECTIVES. 



beautiful 



adj., ( beautiful, 

compared -< more beautiful, 
( most beautiful, 
belongs to flowers. 



MODEL FOR PARSING ADVERBS. 



speedily 



adv., i speedily, 

compared •< more speedily, 
( most speedily, 
modifies returned. 



MODEL FOR PARSING PARTICIPLES. 



comp. act. part, from admire, 

p. p. admire, admired, admired, 

used as adj. and v. ; 

as adj. belongs to they, 

as verb trans. 



Having admired 



SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS. 



223 



reading 



Sentence. — He was fond of reading good books. 

pres. act. part, from read, 
p. p. read, read, read, 
used as noun and verb, 
as n. : 
neu. gen., 
sing no., 
obj. case, 
obj. of of; 
as verb trans. 

Note. — Participles have no subjects, and, therefore, 
have neither person nor number in their verbal sense. 
Participles used as nouns alone or adjectives alone may 
be parsed as those parts of speech. 



AKTICLE XLI. 

SUGGESTIVE SUBJECTS FOE ANALYSES AND 

FOR ESSAYS. 

PAKT I. 

A Picnic. 

A Day on the River. 

A Day on the Lake. 

A Visit to the Country. 

A Visit to the City. 

A Visit from Friends. 
How I spent Thanksgiving Day. 
How I spent Christmas. 
How I spent the Fourth of July. 

Winter Sports. 



224 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Skating. 

Coasting. 

Hunting. 

Summer Sports. 

Boating. 

A Fishing Excursion. 
The Life of a Farmer. 
The Life of a Lawyer. 
The Life of a Minister. 

City Life. 

Country Life. 
Sketch of some man you are acquainted with. 

My Pets. 

Horse-back Riding. 

PART II. 

For Review or Reproduction. 
John Gilpin. 

Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 
Rip Van Winkle. 
The Widow and Her Son. 
The Pride of the Village. 
Other selections from Sketch Book. 
The Gentle Boy. 

Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe. 
David Swan. 
The Seven Vagabonds. 
Other Selections from Twice-Told Tales. 
Cotter's Saturday Night. 
Essays of Elia. 



SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS. 225 

Evangeline. 

Miles Standish's Courtship. 

Ride of Paul Revere. 

PART III. 

Historical an© Literary Subjects. 

Battle of Lexington. 

Battle of Bunker Hill. 

Benedict Arnold. 

Execution of Major Andre. 

Discovery of America. 

Perseverance of Columbus. 

Injustice to Columbus. 

Religious Liberty in the Colonies. 

Jefferson as a Scholar. 

Jefferson the Statesman. 

Boyhood of Washington. 

Washington the Soldier. 

Washington as President. 

Home-life of Washington. 

Constitutional Period. 

Duel between Hamilton and Burr. 

Trial of Burr for Treason. 

Annexation of Florida. 

Annexation of Louisiana. 

Annexation of Texas. 

Henry Clay the Orator. 

Henry Clay the Statesman. 

Daniel Webster the Orator. 

Daniel Webster the Statesman, 
15 



226 LESSONS IN ENGLISH.* 

Webster's Character. 

LaFayette. 

LaFayette's visit to America in 1824. 

The Story of the Acadians 

The Boyhood of Franklin. 

Franklin the Philosopher. 

Franklin's Influence. 

July 4, 1826. 

The First Steamboat. 

Inventions — Are they injurious to the laboring man? 

The Magnetic Telegraph. 

The Atlantic Cable. 

The Press. 

Washington Irving as a Public Officer. 

Irving as a Descriptive Writer. 

Irving as an Historian. 

Irving as a Humorist. 

The Pathos of Irving. 

Irving's Influence in the field of letters. 

Hawthorne as a Moralist. 

The Mysterious in Hawthorne. 

Macaulay as an Historian. 

Macaulay's Theory of Poetry. 

MEMO R Y GEM. 

THE THREE SONS. 

I have a son, a little son, a boy just five years old, 
With eyes of thoughtful earnestness, and mind of gentle 
mould. 



MEMORY GEM. 227 

They tell me that unusual grace in all his ways appears, 
That my child is grave and wise of heart beyond his 

childish years. 
I cannot say how this may be; I know his face is fair — 
And yet his chiefest comeliness is his sweet and serious 

air; 
I know his heart is kind and fond; I know he loveth me; 
But loveth yet his mother more with grateful fervency. 
But that which others most admire, is the thought which 

fills his mind, 
The food for grave inquiring speech he everywhere doth 

find. 
Strange questions doth he ask of me, when we together 

walk; 
He scarcely thinks as children think, or talks as children 

talk. 
Nor cares he much for childish sports, dotes not on bat 

or ball, 
But looks on manhood's ways and works, and aptly mimics 

all. 
His little heart is busy still, and oftentimes perplext 
With thoughts about this world of ours, and thoughts 

about the next. 
He kneels at his dear mother's knee; she teacheth him to 

pray; 
And strange, and sweet, and solemn then are the words 

which he will say. 
Oh! should my gentle child be spared to manhood's years 

to me, 
A holier and a wiser man I trust that he will be; 



228 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

And when I look into his eyes, and stroke his thoughtful 

brow, 
I dare not think what I should feel, were I to lose him now. 



I have a son, a second son, a simple child of three ; 

I'll not declare how bright and fair his little features be, 

How silver sweet those tones of his when he prattles on 

my knee; 
I do not think his light-blue eye is, like his brother's, 

keen, 
Nor his brow so full of childish thought as his hath ever 

been ; 
But his little heart's a fountain pure, of kind and tender 

feeling; 
And his every look's a gleam of light, rich depths of love 

revealing. 
When he walks with me, the country folk, who pass us in 

the street, 
Will shout for joy, and bless my boy, he looks so mild and 

sweet. 
A playfellow is he to all ; and yet, with cheerful tone, 
Will sing his little song of love, when left to sport 

alone. 
His presence is like sunshine sent to gladden home and 

hearth, 
To comfort us in all our griefs, and sweeten all our 

mirth. 
Should he grow up to riper years, God grant his heart 

may prove 
As sweet a home for heavenly grace as now for earthly 

love; 



MEMORY GEM. 229 

And if, beside his grave, the tears our aching hearts must 

dim, 
God comfort us for all the love which we shall lose in him. 



I have a son, a third sweet son ; his age I cannot tell, 
For they reckon not by years and months where he has 

gone to dwell. 
To us, for fourteen anxious months, his infant smiles were 

given ; 
And then he bade farewell to earth, and went to live in 

Heaven. 
I cannot tell what form is his, what looks he weareth now, 
Nor guess how bright a glory crowns his shining seraph 

brow. 
The thoughts that fill his sinless soul, the bliss which he 

doth feel, 
Are numbered with the secret things which God will not 

reveal. 
But I know (for God hath told me this) that he is now 

at rest, 
Where other blessed infants be, on their Savior's loving 

breast. 
I know his spirit feels no more this weary load of flesh, 
But his sleep is blessed with endless dreams of joy for 

ever fresh. 
I know the angels fold him close beneath their glittering 

wings, 
And soothe him with a song that breathes of Heaven's 

divinest things. 
I know that we shall meet our babe, (his mother dear 

and I,) 



230 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

Where God for aye shall wipe away all tears from every 

eye. 
Whate'er befalls his brethren twain, his bliss can never 

cease; 
Their lot may here be grief and fear, but his is certain 

peace. 
It may be that the tempter's wiles their souls from bliss 

may sever; 
But, if our own poor faith fail not, he must be ours for 

ever. 
When we think of what our darling is, and what we still 

must be — 
When we muse on that world's perfect bliss, and this 

world's misery — 
When we groan beneath this load of sin, and feel this 

grief and pain— 

Oh! we'd rather lose our other two, than have him here 

again. 

—John Moultrie. 

MEMORY GEM. 

a woman's question. 

1. 

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing 

Ever made by the hand above — ■ 
A woman's heart and a woman's life 

And a woman's wonderful love? 

2. 
Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing 
As a child might ask for a toy, 



MEMORY GEM. 231 

Demanding what others have died to win, 
With the reckless dash of a boy? 

3. 

You have written my lesson of duty out, 

Manlike you have questioned me — 
Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul, 

Until I shall question thee. 

4 

You require your mutton shall always be hot, 
Your socks and your shirts shall be whole ; 

I require your heart to be true as God's stars, 
And pure as heaven your soul. 

5 - 

You require a cook for your mutton and beef, 

I require a far better thing ; 
A seamstress you're wanting for stockings and shirts, 

I look for a man and a king. 

6. 
A king for a beautiful realm called home, 

And a man that the maker, God, 
Shall look upon as he did the first, 

And say, "It is very good." 

7. 
I am fair and young, but the rose will fade 

From my soft, young cheek one day — 
Will you love me then, 'mid the falling leaves^ 

As you did 'mid the bloom of May? 



232 LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 

8. 
Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep 

I may launch my all on its tide? 
A loving woman finds heaven or hell, 

On the day she is made a bride. 

9. 
I require all things that are grand and true, 

All things that a man should be ; 
If you give this all, I would stake my life 

To be all you demand of me. 

10. 
If you cannot be this — a laundress and cook 

You can hire with little to pay : 
But a woman's heart and a woman's life 
Are not to be won that way. 

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 







Tndex^ 




A, diacritical marks of, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 

17, 215. 
Abbreviations, 33, 41. 
Abridged Sentences, 107. 
Absolute Case, 25, 26, 102, 151, 203, 204. 
Addison, 122. 

Adjective, 18, 19, 24, 73, 185, 186, 187. 
Adjective Element, 52, 54, 57, 59, 193. 
Adverb, 20, 74, 187, 188; relative adverb, 

83, 157, 159. 
Adverbial Clause, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 197, 

198 199 
Adverbial Element, 53, 57, 59, 193. 
Agreement of pronoun, 452, 155; of 

verb, 42, 44, 173. 
Analysis, 194. 
Antithesis, 120. 
Apostrophe, 32, 55, 56, 69, 209; figure of 

speech, 129, 130. 
Apposition, 37, 38, 41, 46, 50, 91, 92, 147, 

203. 
Arnold, Thomas, 126. 
As, relative pronoun, 156, 157. 
As, denoting Apposition, 63. 

Bacon, 134. 

Bancroft, 48, 66, 69, 71, 95, 106, 200. 

Be, 47, 163. 

Blaine, J. G., 100, 120, 171. 

Blair, 114. 

Brace, 211. 

Brackets, 210. 

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 230. 

Byron, 89. 

C, diacritical marks of, 19, 31, 217. 

Campbell, 128. 

Capitals, 11, 15, 212. 

Caret, 211. 

Carlyle, 132, 133. 

Case, 147. 

Ch, diacritical marks of, 64, 65, 218, 

Clause, 196-201. 

Clearness, 119. 

Climax, 129, 130. 

Colon, 270. 

Comma, 22, 25, 26, 33, 37, 38, 41, 203. 

Complex Sentence, 70-98, 196, 197. 

Compound Sentence, 196. 

Compound Subject, 22, 193. 



Conjugation, 164; of to be, 164; of to 

love, 167. 
Comparison of adjective, 185; of adverb, 

188. 
Composition, principles of, 119-127. 
Conjunction, 189, 190. 
Conjunctive adverb, 188, 190. 
Copulative Verb, 49, 50, 91, 174-176, 

Dagger, 211. 

Dash, 210. 

Dates, exercises in writing, 33, 34. 

Declension of noun, 152; of personal 

pronoun, 153; of relative pronoun, 

156. 
De Quincey, 52, 55, 93, 95, 104, 112, 120, 

135, 198, 209. 
Derivatives, 110, 111. 
Diacritical Marks, 11-14, 16-19, 23-25, 31, 

41, 57, 63, 65, 79, 215. 
Diagraming, 52, 63, 219. 
Dickens, 92, 116, 134, 171, 178. 
Dictation Exercises, 25, 26, 27, 33, 51, 62. 

84, 106. 
Dieresis, 211. 
Digraph, 217. 
Diphthong, 217. 
Dryden, 100. 

E, diacritical marks of, 12, 13, 14, 215. 

Elegance, 121. 

Elements, principal, 191; subordinate, 

193, 194; independent, 194. 
Eliot, George, 76, 85, 93, 94, 95, 101, 122, 

190 -JQ2 171 

Emerson, K. W., 51, 63, 75, 84, 88, 91, 93, 
107, 123, 132, 178, 194, 196, 198, 199, 
201, 206, 209. 

Emphatic form of Yerb, 172. 

Essay Writing, 15, 28, 30, 40. 

Everett, 102. 

Fields, James T., 28. 

Figures of Speech, 129-136. 

Fletcher, 62. 

Froude, 172. 

Fuller, Margaret, 172. 



G, diacritical marks of, 23, 24, 25, 218. 
Garfield, James A., 198. 



(233) 



234 



INDEX. 



Gender, 140. 
Gibbon, 120. 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 62, 84, 105, 106, 
107, 122, 123, 131, 135, 163, 171, 175, 
178, 197, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204. 

Henry, Patrick, 208. 

Herbert, 85. 

Higginson, T. W., 123, 171. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 38, 76, 85, 94, 
124, 131, 133, 134, 207, 209, 210, 211. 

Hood, Thomas, 17. 

Howells, 171. 

Hume, 123. 

Hyperbole, 129, 130. 

Hyphen, 210. 

I, diacritical marks of, 12, 13, 14, 216. . 
Implied Question, 92, 160, 195, 208. 
Independent Clause, 196. 
Independent Element, 194. 
Infinitive, 59, 161, 163, 176. 
Interjection, 191. 
Interrogation Point, 11, 208. 
Irregular Verbs, 45, 46, 47, 164, 179. 
Irving, 54, 76, 89, 94, 106, 177. 
James, Henry, 172. 

Johnson, President, to Queen Victoria, 

122. 
Johnson, Samuel, 75, 206. 

Lavater, 84. 

Lay, verb, 64, 65, 107. 

Letter-Writing, 34. 

Lie, verb, 64, 65, 107. 

Lincoln, 76, 172; estimated by Tourgee, 

136. 
Longstreet, 63. 
Lowell, 66, 85, 92, 108, 111. 

Macaulay, 51, 95, 106, 108, 116, 121, 130, 
134, 135, 175, 177, 178, 195, 198, 199, 201. 

McMaster, 171. 

Memory Gems, I Remember, 17; Ballad 
of the Tempest, 28; The Old Man 
Dreams, 38; Tribute to the English 
Language, 48; A Mother's Love, 54; 
Eloquence, 60; After the Burial, 66; 
John Adams, 71; Lincoln's Speech 
at Gettysburg, 76; Washington, 80; 
The Changeling, 85; The Destruction 
of Sennacherib, 89; The Men of 
Lexington, 95; Value of Time, 104; 
The Sixteenth Century, 108; Litera- 
ture, 112; Hohenlinden, 128; Abra- 
ham Lincoln, 136; The Three Sons, 
226; A Woman's Question, 230. 

Mandeville, 149. 

Metaphor, 129, 130. 

Milton, 150. 

Mode, 161, 162, 163. 

Modifiers, 193. 

More, 149. 

Morse, J. T„ Jr., 80. 



Motley, 51, 101, 175. 
Moultrie, John, 226. 

Noun, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 24, 25, 139-152. 
Number, plural, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 55, 56, 
78, 79, 109, 110, 142-146. 

O, diacritical marks of, 12, 13, 14, 79, 216. 
Objective Case, 30, 31, 32, 38, 55, 150, 151. 
Objective Element, 53, 57, 59, 193, 194. 
Orthoepy, 14, 74, 79, 109, 213. 
Orthography, 213. 

Paragraph, 127, 211. 

Parallels, 211. 

Parenthesis, 210. 

Parsing, 50, 218, 220. 

Participial phrases, 203. 

Participle, 98-108, 176-178. 

Passive Voice, 47, 48, 169. 

Period, 11, 33, 69, 202. 

Person, 140. 

Phrase, 194. 

Plan of an Essay, 20, 127. 

Pope, 100. 

Possessive Case, 32, 52, 55, 56, 148-150. 

Predicate, 21, 22, 23, 49, 50, 54,89, 191, 192. 

Prefix, 111/ 

Preposition, 31, 189. 

Prescott, 51, 55, 100, 106, 122, 123, 174, 178. 

Principal Clause, 196. 

Principal Elements, 191. 

Principal parts of Verb, 45, 62, 164. 

Progressive form of Verb, 170-172. 

Pronoun, personal, 20, 31, 32, 58, 152; 

compound personal, 65, 66, 153. 
Punctuation, 11, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 33, 39, 

41, 202-211. 
Purity, 120. 

Quotation, direct, 26, 27, 88, 195; indi- 
rect, 88, 195. 
Quotation Marks, 26, 209. 

Raise, verb, 64, 65, 107. 

Relative Adverb, 83, 157, 159. 

Relative Clause, 77-80, 82-85, 158, 197, 200, 

204. 
Relative Pronoun, 156-159. See under 

Relative Clause. 
Reproduction, 125. 
Rise, verb, 64, 65, 107, 
Ruskin, 95, 198. 

Scott, Sir Walter, 74. 

Scott, W. H., 131. 

Sentence, classes of, 75, 194-201. 

Semicolon, 205. 

Set, verb, 64, 65, 107. 

Simile, 129. 

Sit, 64, 65, 107. 

Spelling, exercises in, 57, 58, 70, 73, 74, 

rules of, 213. 
Spenser, 149. 



INDEX. 



235 



Stephens, Leslie, 172. 

Stowe, Mrs., 171, 204. 

Strength, 120. 

Subordinate Clauses, 196-201. 

Subordinate Elements, 193. 

Subject, 21, 22, 23, 88, 191, 192. 

Substantive Clauses, 88-92, 200, 201. 

Swift, 93. 

Synopsis, 47, 164. 

Taylor, Bayard, opinion of, 90. 

Tense, 42-44, 46, 47, 162, 163. 

Th, 109, 110, 218. 

Thackeray, 122, 149, 171. 

Tourgee, 107, 115, 136, 171, 207. 

Trigraph, 217. 

Trollope, Anthony, 121, 122, 171. 



U, diacritical marks of, 12, 13, 14, 216, 
217. 

Verb, 20-23, 42-48, 160-185; transitive, 
30, 31, 161; regular, 43, 164; irregular, 
45, 164, 179. 

Voice, 161. 

Von Knebel, 200. 

W, vowel and consonant, 13, 217. 

Warner, C. D., 171. 

Webster, 60, 198. 

Whipple, 63, 93, 124. 

Wise, H. A., 131. 

Words, study of, 97, 98. 

Wordsworth, 64. 

Y, diacritical marks of, 13, 14, 217. 



